LAVAL, Quebec — The hunt for a replacement is already under way after Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. announced on October 13 that vice president and chief financial officer Raymond Paré has resigned. Paré said he intends to pursue other interests and to spend more time with his family.

Couche-Tard’s board of directors has accepted his resignation and wishes him success in his future endeavors, the company said. His resignation is effective October 16.

As reported in a 21st Century Smoke/CSP Daily News Flash, Couche-Tard has begun the process of identifying a successor, and Paré will remain available to facilitate a smooth transition.

In the meantime, Couche-Tard president and CEO Brian Hannasch will handle financial and investor matters, it said.

“We thank Raymond for his contributions to the company over the past 13 years,” Hannasch said. “He has been instrumental in the completion of milestone acquisitions including Statoil Fuel & Retail and The Pantry, reaching thousands more customers in dozens of new markets and multiplying our market value several times over, as well as laying the foundations for further growth with our new, global Circle K retail brand. We wish him well in his pursuit of new ventures.”

Paré has held the vice president and CFO position since September 2008. Prior to assuming that role, he was vice president of corporate finance and treasurer from 2007 to 2008 and senior director of finance from 2003 to 2007.

In 1992, Paré began his professional career at Ernst & Young as a chartered accountant and thereafter held several positions in financial and operational management, among other things; at JAC Canada/USA Inc. and at Bombardier Inc., in the Aerospace Division.

Laval, Quebec-based Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc.’s network includes 7,987 convenience stores throughout North America, including 6,556 stores offering fuel. The network consists of 15 business units, including 11 in the United States (under the Circle K and The Pantry’s Kangaroo Express brands) covering 41 states and four in Canada (under the Couche-Tard, Mac’s and Circle K brands) covering all 10 provinces.

The company recently announced that it will rebrand all of its stores in all markets to a new Circle K brand (with the exception of the Couche-Tard c-stores in Quebec).

In Europe, Couche-Tard operates a retail network across Scandinavia (Norway, Sweden and Denmark), Poland, the Baltics (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania) and Russia. It includes 2,229 stores, most of which offer fuel and convenience-store products, while the others are unmanned automated gas stations.

Approximately 4,700 stores are operated by independent operators under the Circle K banner in 12 other countries or regions worldwide (China, Guam, Honduras, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Macau, Malaysia, Mexico, the Philippines, the United Arab Emirates and Vietnam), which brings to more than 14,900 the number of sites in Couche-Tard’s global network.