Cumberland Farms files for US IPO after $830m Australian sale

Cumberland Farms Ltd., the convenience-store and gas-station operator formerly known as EG Group, filed for an initial public offering on the Nasdaq on Thursday, seeking to list under the ticker CMBY after selling its Australian business for about $830 million to refocus on its core US and European markets.

The number of shares to be offered and the price range have not yet been disclosed in the Form F-1 filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. The Financial Times reported in June that the company had filed confidential plans for a listing that could value the business at more than $9 billion, a figure that would place it among the larger retail IPOs of the year.

"This is an important step in reshaping our global portfolio, strengthening our balance sheet and improving liquidity," Chief Executive Officer Russ Colaco said in a statement Tuesday following the Australian divestiture. "We are now firmly focused on our core growth markets in the US and Europe."

The Charlotte, North Carolina-based company operates more than 3,200 convenience-store and gas-station sites across the US and Europe, ranking No. 6 on CSP's 2026 Top 202 list of US convenience-store chains by store count. The company traces its roots to EG Group, the Blackburn, UK-based operator founded by the Issa brothers, which rebranded under the Cumberland Farms name as part of a broader restructuring.

Cumberland Farms has been reshaping its global portfolio over the past year. The company completed the sale of its Australian business to Ampol Ltd. for about $830 million, following the December divestiture of its Italian operations and the February announcement that it would exit France. Proceeds from the Australian sale will be used to fully repay the group's US dollar senior secured notes, reducing debt and annual interest costs.

The company reported first-quarter 2026 earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of $187 million, up 30 percent year-over-year, signaling improving profitability as it streamlines operations. The EBITDA growth reflects both the benefits of portfolio rationalization and operational improvements across its remaining US and European footprint.

BofA Securities, Goldman Sachs and Jefferies are acting as lead joint book-running managers for the offering. Barclays, JPMorgan, Wells Fargo Securities, Deutsche Bank Securities and UBS Investment Bank are also joint book-running managers, with BNP Paribas, Rabo Securities, TD Securities and Raymond James serving as bookrunners.

The IPO comes as the US market for new listings has reopened broadly after years of muted activity driven by higher interest rates and market volatility. Companies from a wider range of industries have returned to public markets this year, with the summer pipeline building momentum. The last time a major convenience-store chain went public in the US was Casey's General Stores' secondary offering in 2021, making Cumberland Farms a rare pure-play in the sector for public market investors.

For Cumberland Farms, the listing provides a path to public equity markets as it completes a strategic pivot from a global expansion strategy to a more focused US and European operation. The company's ability to command a valuation above $9 billion will depend on investor appetite for convenience-store assets and the company's debt-reduction progress. With the IPO market showing signs of sustained strength, the offering could serve as a bellwether for retail-sector listings in the second half of 2026.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.