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Yesway
Yesway executed a rapid c-store roll-up from 2015 to 2019, acquiring 400-plus stores before selling the network to Couche-Tard for $3.9B.
Yesway
Thomas Nicholas Trkla founded Yesway in 2015 through Brookwood Financial Partners, a private equity firm he co-founded in 1993. The thesis was straightforward: aggregate unbranded and underperforming convenience stores across the American heartland, rebrand them, and install standardized operations. The firm acquired its first 100 stores almost immediately, absorbing the assets of Kum & Go franchises and other independent operators. Yesway executed a rapid buy-and-build strategy in a fragmented market. The portfolio concentrated on large-format stores with grocery and fuel retail across Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Iowa, Wyoming, and South Dakota. In 2016 the firm absorbed 109 Iowa stores from Kum & Go, and in 2017 it added another 68 stores across the Midwest and West. The model targeted rural and secondary markets underserved by national chains—a defensive demographic play anchored in gasoline and tobacco sales, with growing foodservice attachments. The firm's real estate was typically fee-simple ownership, giving Yesway control over both the operating business and the underlying property. The platform scaled to roughly 400 locations before Trkla and Brookwood negotiated a sale to Alimentation Couche-Tard, the Canadian parent of Circle K, in a deal announced in late 2019 and closed in 2020. The transaction, valued at approximately $3.9 billion including debt, transferred the entire Yesway and Allsup's store network—around 403 locations—to Couche-Tard (per Bloomberg, 2019). Brookwood retained no ongoing operational interest. The firm subsequently wound down the Yesway platform as a going concern, returning capital to Brookwood's limited partners. Yesway functioned as a fully integrated operating company under private equity ownership rather than a passive fund. Brookwood installed in-house real estate, construction, marketing, and operations teams rather than outsourcing to third-party operators. This vertical integration—owning the real estate, the branding, and the supply chain—allowed the firm to improve margins and package the business as a single scalable asset to strategics. The exit to Couche-Tard remains one of the larger convenience-store roll-ups to complete in a single transaction in the U.S. market.
General information
Firm type
Asset Manager
Year founded
2015
AUM
Undisclosed
Location
Region
North America
Country
United States
City
Fort Worth
Corporate office
Fort Worth, TX, United States
Principals
Thomas Nicholas Trkla
Chairman & Chief Executive Officer
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
Who ran the Yesway roll-up strategy?
Thomas Nicholas Trkla, Chairman and CEO of Brookwood Financial Partners, led the Yesway acquisition and operations strategy. Trkla co-founded Brookwood in 1993 and served as the driving force behind the convenience-store aggregation thesis. He recruited dedicated retail-operations management to run the day-to-day store network. After the sale to Couche-Tard, Trkla remains Chairman and CEO of Brookwood.
What was the investment thesis behind Yesway?
Brookwood identified a fragmented market of unbranded and underperforming convenience stores across the U.S. Midwest and Southwest. The thesis involved acquiring fee-simple real estate and operating businesses at valuations below replacement cost, then installing standardized branding, supply chains, and foodservice offerings. Improved margins and scale made the portfolio an attractive single acquisition target for a strategic buyer like Alimentation Couche-Tard.
How many stores did Yesway own at its peak?
At the time of its sale to Couche-Tard in 2019, Yesway and its Allsup's subsidiary operated approximately 403 locations. The portfolio had grown from zero to 400-plus stores in roughly four years through successive acquisitions, including multiple transactions with Kum & Go and the purchase of the Allsup's chain in 2019.
Is Yesway still an active operating company?
No. Brookwood Financial Partners sold the entire Yesway and Allsup's store network to Alimentation Couche-Tard in a deal that closed in 2020. The Yesway brand was absorbed into Couche-Tard's U.S. operations, primarily under the Circle K banner. Brookwood no longer operates any convenience-store assets.
What real estate structure did Yesway use for its stores?
Yesway typically acquired stores on a fee-simple basis, owning both the operating business and the underlying real estate. This structure gave Brookwood full control over lease terms, capital improvements, and eventual exit optionality. It also provided a tangible asset base that served as collateral for the debt financing used in the roll-up. The real estate component was a key differentiator from franchise-heavy convenience-store aggregators.
What were Yesway's primary geographic markets?
The portfolio concentrated on secondary and rural markets across Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Iowa, Wyoming, and South Dakota. The firm deliberately avoided highly competitive urban cores, preferring towns and highway corridors where national-chain penetration was lower and real estate acquisition costs were more favorable.
How is Yesway related to Brookwood Financial Partners?
Yesway was a portfolio company wholly owned by Brookwood Financial Partners, a private equity firm co-founded by Thomas Trkla in 1993. Brookwood created Yesway in 2015 specifically to execute the convenience-store roll-up strategy. Following the sale to Couche-Tard in 2020, Brookwood retained no equity stake in the convenience-store operations and returned proceeds to its limited partners.
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