Just over a year ago, OXXO parent company FEMSA entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Delek’s retail business for $385 million, marking its official entrance into the U.S. market.
Now, the company is shaking up operations with the appointment of a new CEO, Jose Antonio Fernández Garza-Lagüera, currently CEO of FEMSA Proximity & Health. He will take over the role on Nov. 1.
Fernández Garza-Lagüera will “bring his strategic focus and his assertive and results-driven style of leadership to guide FEMSA through a new stage of economic and social value creation, driving growth, innovation and sustainability, with a continued focus on the development of FEMSA’s people, their families and the communities in which the company operates,” the company noted in a statement.
Fernández Garza-Lagüera joined Cervecería Cuauhtémoc Moctezuma Heineken in 2011 as sales and operations Manager. From there, he rose through several management roles across FEMSA’s business units.
In his current role as CEO of FEMSA Proximity & Health, he leads a team of more than 180,000 colleagues and has responsibility for an operation that comprises more than 28,000 proximity stores across 11 countries in the Americas and Europe, over 4,300 drugstores in four Latin American markets and more than 550 fuel stations in Mexico.
Current interim CEO José Antonio Fernández Carbajal will continue his role as executive chairman.
“The board of directors expresses its sincere gratitude to José Antonio for his leadership and dedication while serving in both capacities during this transitional period,” the statement continued.
FEMSA’s Move into America
OXXO’s acquisition of Delek’s retail business in August 2024 opened up plenty of new doors for the Monterrey, Mexico-based retailer.
“For FEMSA, this market offers high strategic fit, and presents an opportunity to build a platform that, over time, has the potential to achieve scale and create shareholder value,” FEMSA noted in a statement last year. “The Delek stores have the right set of attributes to be FEMSA’s first step on this journey, in terms of size, geographical footprint and possibilities for extensive experimentation, testing and fine-tuning of the company’s convenience value proposition.”
The deal included 249 Delek corporate sites, mostly in the southwestern U.S., including locations in Texas and New Mexico.
FEMSA is one of the largest conglomerates in Mexico with operations in over 17 countries. Through FEMSA’s Proximity & Health Division, it operates OXXO, which has over 22,800 stores in five countries, including Mexico, Colombia, Chile, Peru and Brazil.
“The sale of Delek US Retail to FEMSA is an incremental step in our commitment to unlock the sum of the parts value inherent in our system. We are pleased with this transaction and expect to execute on additional steps to unlock value for our stakeholders,” said Avigal Soreq at the time of the deal, president and CEO of Delek. “Importantly, it allows us to gain a competitive partner for ongoing and expanded retail fuel sales. We look forward to building on this partnership with FEMSA in both the short and long-term. The transaction creates an exciting opportunity for Delek US Retail and its employees as they become part of FEMSA’s growth strategy in the U.S.”
In its latest earnings report, FEMSA saw an uptick of 11.1% for its total consolidated revenues year-over-year, while income from operations increased 4.9% in the first quarter.
