(Montreal) A Montreal company has reached an agreement to acquire a subsidiary of Canada Post and Purolator Investments which employs more than 3,000 people across more than 75 locations in terms of third-party logistics services.
The acquisition of the SCI Group by the Montreal company Chaîne d’supply Metro was announced on Tuesday. The transaction is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2024. It must obtain the green light from certain regulatory authorities.
The Metro Supply Chain company will benefit from the support of the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ), Investissement Québec and the National Bank as financial partners.
CDPQ, which has been a shareholder in Chaîne d’supply Metro since 2018, indicated that it will invest 100 million as part of this purchase.
For its part, the Quebec government mentioned granting an amount of 75 million in the form of preferred shares through a fund administered by Investissement Québec.
In a press release, the Minister of Economy, Innovation and Energy, Pierre Fitzgibbon, underlined the government’s participation in this acquisition.
“With this investment in Metro Supply Chain, we are supporting a Quebec company to become an international leader in the logistics sector,” he said.
Quebec claims that the transaction will lead to the creation of 400 jobs in the province over a five-year period.
Transformation of the postal service
The SCI Group, which employs 250 people in Quebec, is presented as a “major Canadian provider of outsourced logistics services specializing in warehousing order fulfillment, supply chain solutions and transportation management services.”
The process to sell the entity began last year, explained Canada Post in a press release. “This decision is part of efforts to transform the postal service,” mentioned the Canada Post Corporation.
This transformation, which has been underway for two years, aims in particular to grow Canada Post’s place in the country’s e-commerce market.
The Metro Supply Chain company operates more than 100 sites in North America and Europe, and hires approximately 6,000 people, including 450 in Quebec. It is described as “one of the largest privately-owned, established supply chain solutions companies in Canada.”
According to its president and CEO, “there is a solid strategic alignment” between his company and the SCI Group.
“We look forward to leveraging our complementary strengths and shared focus on operational excellence to drive growth for clients in diverse industries such as technology and healthcare, as well as expand our e-commerce offering,” Chris Fenton said in a statement.
“The addition of SCI to the Metro Supply Chain group will allow us to intensify our expansion efforts south of the border,” he added.
This future transaction will represent the company’s tenth acquisition since its collaboration with CDPQ, it was indicated.