Varcoe: Parkland's ‘incredible journey' from single gas station to $12.6B takeover

Calgary Herald

6 hours ago

After welcoming investors and staff to the final annual meeting of Parkland Corp. this week, CEO Bob Espey reflected briefly on the company's Alberta roots, shortly after investors approved a takeover offer from a Texas-based energy giant.
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On Tuesday, more than 93 per cent of shareholders of the Calgary-based company endorsed the $12.6-billion bid from U.S.-based Sunoco LP, an offer initially unveiled in May.
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Once final regulatory approvals are in hand, the takeover will mark the end of an 'incredible journey' — in Espey's words — of a five-decade-plus run by the Canadian-operated business.
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A half-century of growth saw Parkland evolve from a small beef company based in Red Deer to a massive fuel distributor, marketer, and convenience retailer with assets in Canada, the United States and more than 20 countries.
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Today, Parkland owns a chain of gas stations operating under the banners of Esso, Ultramar, Pioneer, Chevron, and Fas Gas Plus, and its On the Run convenience stores.
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It has more than 4,000 retail gas and store locations and 5,500 employees, including 2,800 in Canada. More than 700 work in Calgary, where its head office is located in the downtown.
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'Our story began over 50 years ago when Jack and Joan Donald purchased a large position in the newly public company, Parkland Beef Industries, a cattle feedlot. Jack's entrepreneurial spirit was evident from the start when he diversified into fuel distribution,' Espey told the audience.
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'He saw the potential of capital markets to fund growth through acquisition, a vision that still inspires us today.'
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That vision spurred remarkable expansion, from a small junior stock listed on the Alberta Stock Exchange to Parkland becoming an income trust in 2002, converting back into a corporation several years later, and scaling up into a multibillion-dollar company on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
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However, the acquisition strategy also helped sow the seeds of investor discontent in recent years, the prospect of a proxy battle and Parkland's eventual sale.
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'In my mind, it's a bit of a shame that this is no longer going to be a Canadian company because I thought it still had tremendous potential growth into the future,' former Parkland chair Jim Pantelidis, who served on the board from 1999 until mid-2023, said in an interview.