(Calgary) Fuel retailer Parkland has put its Florida-based retail and commercial operations up for sale as part of a previously announced strategy to divest non-core assets.
The Calgary-based company said Tuesday it has already seen significant interest in its Florida assets, which include about 100 retail locations, nine card-entry facilities and four manufacturing and bulk storage warehouses in the state.
She said she expected to close the sale within the next 12 to 18 months.
Parkland – which operates an oil refinery in Burnaby, B.C., as well as about 4,000 retail fuel stations and convenience stores, including Esso and Ultramar banners, and commercial sites in Canada, the United States and the Caribbean – is seeking to divest assets as part of an ongoing plan to improve shareholder returns.
In Canada, the company has already put 157 gas stations and convenience stores up for sale, and it expects to complete the previously announced sale of its Canadian propane business in the fourth quarter of this year.
Read the article “Parkland puts 157 convenience stores and gas stations up for sale”
The company has generated about $200 million in revenue from its divestment program so far and said Tuesday that with the addition of the Florida operations, it now expects its divestment program to exceed $500 million by the end of 2025.
“Parkland continually reviews all parts of its portfolio,” management said in a press release. “By divesting non-core assets, the company continues to focus on areas with the greatest growth potential and synergies with its core business.”
The divestment program comes as Parkland continues to face calls to take more drastic measures to improve its performance. US activist investor Engine Capital, as well as Parkland’s largest shareholder Simpson Oil, have both called on Parkland to conduct a review of strategic options – including a possible sale of the company.
Parkland said such a review was unnecessary and did not take into account the best interests of the majority of its shareholders.
In August, Simpson Oil, a Cayman Islands-based company that owns about 20% of Parkland’s shares, filed a lawsuit against the fuel retailer. The suit seeks to overturn a series of voting restrictions that are part of a 2019 board governance agreement between Simpson and Parkland.