(Calgary) Fuel distributor Parkland Corporation has hired two real estate companies to help it sell 157 of its convenience stores and gas stations in six provinces.
The Calgary-based company announced Tuesday that it is partnering with NRC Realty & Capital Advisors LLC and Colliers Canada to find buyers for the locations, which include those operated under the Chevron, Ultramar, Pioneer and FasGas brands as well as the Marché Express brand (or On the Run outside Quebec).
Most sites are in Quebec and Ontario, with the remainder in Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba and Saskatchewan.
In Quebec, around fifty locations are up for sale, according to a press release from Colliers Canada.
Parkland’s vice president of Canadian retail operations, Francis Lapointe, says the decision to sell the assets is part of the company’s network planning and optimization process.
“As we have grown, we have identified sites that no longer fit our long-term strategic objectives in their current format,” he said in the release.
Parkland says it will sign long-term fuel supply agreements with retail and fuel establishments.
Parkland has 4,000 retail and fueling locations across Canada, the United States and the Caribbean.
The company also owns and operates the Burnaby, British Columbia, refinery, which supplies about a quarter of the gasoline and diesel used in the Western Province.
The sale process comes as the company faces calls from Engine Capital LP, a New York-based activist investor that is calling for a complete overhaul of the company’s board of directors.
Additionally, Parkland saw the resignation of two board members who represented its largest shareholder, Simpson Oil, late last year.
Simpson said he will evaluate his options to protect his shareholder rights once restrictions under an agreement limiting his ability to nominate and vote for Parkland board members expire March 31.
Parkland’s annual general meeting will take place Thursday in Calgary.