CALGARY — Fuel retailer Parkland Corp. has put its Florida-based retail and commercial businesses on the market as part of a previously announced strategy to divest non-core assets.
The Calgary-based company said Tuesday it has already seen "substantial" interest in its Florida assets, which include about 100 retail locations, nine cardlock facilities and four bulk storage plants and warehouses in the state.
It said it expects to complete the sale within the next 12 to 18 months.
Parkland — which operates an oil refinery in Burnaby, B.C., as well as approximately 4,000 fuel and convenience retail stores and commercial locations across Canada, the U.S. and the Caribbean — has been looking to divest assets as part of an ongoing plan to improve returns to shareholders.
In Canada, the company has already put 157 gas and convenience stores up for sale, and it expects to close the previously announced sale of its Canadian propane business in the fourth quarter of this year.
The company has generated about $200 million in proceeds from its divestiture program so far, and said Tuesday that with the addition of the Florida business, it now expects its divestiture program to exceed $500 million by the end of 2025.
"Parkland continuously reviews all parts of its portfolio," the company said in a news release.
"By divesting non-core assets, the company continues to focus on areas with the highest growth potential and strongest synergies with its core business."
The divestiture program is taking place as Parkland continues to face calls to take more drastic action to improve its performance. Both U.S.-based activist investor Engine Capital LP, as well as Parkland's largest shareholder Simpson Oil Ltd., have called on Parkland to conduct a review of strategic alternatives — including a possible sale of the company.
Parkland has said such a review is unnecessary and does not consider the best interests of the majority of its shareholders.
In August, Simpson Oil — which is based in the Cayman Islands and owns about 20 per cent of Parkland's shares — launched a lawsuit against the fuel retailer. The lawsuit seeks to overturn a set of voting restrictions that are part of a 2019 board governance agreement between Simpson and Parkland.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 3, 2024.
Companies in this story: (TSX: PKI)
Amanda Stephenson, The Canadian Press
