Applegreen, an Irish company at the center of a now-defunct deal to redevelop travel plazas along state highways, shelled out tens of thousands of dollars between 2024 and 2025 to a powerful Beacon Hill lobbying shop, according to a state database last updated June 30.

Companies looking to do business in Massachusetts regularly employ local lobbyists to help facilitate connections with state officials. But text messages between a consultant working for Applegreen’s registered lobbyist and a Massachusetts Department of Transportation official key to the travel plaza contract have drawn scrutiny from a losing bidder.

In a lawsuit filed earlier this month, Waltham-based Global Partners said the contract’s procurement process that MassDOT kicked off in September 2024 “was fatally compromised

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