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. The Quebec government had not responded late Tuesday to a request to know the amount it will inject through Investissement Québec.
In a joint press release with CDPQ and Chaîne d’supply Metro, the Minister of Economy, Innovation and Energy, Pierre Fitzgibbon, highlighted 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.
Transformation of the postal service
SCI Group is billed as a “leading Canadian outsourced logistics services provider 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.
Metro Supply Chain operates more than 100 sites in North America and Europe, and employs approximately 6,000 people. 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.