{"id":101415,"date":"2017-06-12T08:00:05","date_gmt":"2017-06-12T12:00:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/depquebec.com\/?p=101415\/"},"modified":"2017-06-12T07:49:43","modified_gmt":"2017-06-12T11:49:43","slug":"petroleum-distributors-are-on-fire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/depquebec.com\/en\/petroleum-distributors-are-on-fire\/","title":{"rendered":"Petroleum Distributors Are On Fire In Quebec"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>For some time now, it seems that not a month has passed without a petroleum distributor in Quebec <strong>buying another, merging, announcing a major transaction or expanding its retail network.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>See for yourself:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>In August of last year, the Alberta oil company <a href=\"https:\/\/depquebec.com\/en\/chain-profiles\/parkland-fuel-corporation-2\/\"><strong>Parkland<\/strong> <\/a>swallowed 500 <strong>Ultramar<\/strong> gas stations under the banner <a href=\"https:\/\/depquebec.com\/en\/list-of-banners\/depanneur-du-coin\/\"><strong>D\u00e9panneur du Coin<\/strong><\/a> and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/depquebec.com\/en\/list-of-banners\/depan-express\/\"><strong>D\u00e9pan Express<\/strong><\/a> at a cost of $ 965 million CAD\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/affaires.lapresse.ca\/economie\/commerce-de-detail\/201608\/22\/01-5012822-couche-tard-achete-cst-pour-44-milliards-us.php\">(source : La Presse)<\/a>. This transaction alone adds to the company an annual sales volume of 3 billion liters of gasoline per year.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Then, a few months later, <a href=\"https:\/\/depquebec.com\/en\/chain-profiles\/groupe-filgo-sonic\/\"><strong>Filgo<\/strong><\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/depquebec.com\/en\/chain-profiles\/groupe-filgo-sonic\/\"><strong>Sonic<\/strong><\/a>, two petroleum distributors and convenience store operators, finalized their merger to create the <a href=\"https:\/\/depquebec.com\/en\/chain-profiles\/groupe-filgo-sonic\/\"><strong>Filgo-Sonic Group<\/strong><\/a>, which now has 264 gas stations, 33 corporate convenience stores, 46 depots and card locks and 166 distributors and delivery agents. Incidentally, the first <strong>SuperSoir Sonic<\/strong>\u00a0depanneur with gas <a href=\"https:\/\/depquebec.com\/en\/list-of-banners\/super-soir\/\">has just been unveiled in Rimouski<\/a>: the <a href=\"https:\/\/depquebec.com\/en\/places\/canada\/quebec-1\/rimouski\/cstore-gas\/depanneur-jessop-supersoir-sonic\/\"><strong>D\u00e9panneur Jessop<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0just joined the banner after having\u00a0dropped its <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/depquebec.com\/en\/list-of-gas-brands\/esso\/\">Esso<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>banner;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>The <a href=\"https:\/\/depquebec.com\/profils-de-detaillants\/harnois-groupe-petrolier\/\"><strong>Groupe Harnois<\/strong><\/a> is not to be outdone, as it participated, together with <strong>Couche-Tard<\/strong>, in the acquisition of 36 <a href=\"https:\/\/depquebec.com\/en\/list-of-gas-brands\/esso\/\"><strong>Esso<\/strong> g<\/a>as stations with a <strong>March\u00e9 Express\u00a0<\/strong>convenience store banner, a transaction financed to the tune of $ 45 million by the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fondsftq.com\/\"><strong>Fonds FTQ Construction<\/strong><\/a> and the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdpq.com\/fr\/accueil\"><strong>Caisse de d\u00e9p\u00f4ts et de placements du Qu\u00e9bec<\/strong><\/a>. Through this transaction, the annual volume of <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/depquebec.com\/en\/list-of-gas-brands\/esso\/\">Esso<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>gasoline sold by the company increases to 630 million liters of gasoline and the total volume of its entire gas brand porfolio now reaches 1.6 billion liters. That came a year after <a href=\"https:\/\/depquebec.com\/profils-de-detaillants\/harnois-groupe-petrolier\/\"><strong>Harnois<\/strong> <\/a>took control of the 142 gas stations of <strong>P\u00e9troles Therrien<\/strong> (the locally well-known\u00a0<strong>P\u00e9tro-T<\/strong>).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Then, the year 2017 began with the acquisition by the <a href=\"https:\/\/depquebec.com\/en\/chain-profiles\/groupe-crevier\/\"><strong>Crevier Group<\/strong><\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.lapresse.ca\/le-soleil\/affaires\/les-regions\/201705\/02\/01-5094174-gaz-o-bar-vend-ses-33-stations-service.php\">of the 33 <strong>Gas-O-Bar<\/strong> service stations<\/a> located in the Bas-Saint-Laurent region, absorbing a regional brand that has more than 45 years of history. <a href=\"https:\/\/depquebec.com\/marques-dessence\/crevier-2-2\/\"><strong>Crevier<\/strong> <\/a>is also pursuing the development of its own corporate banner of convenience stores with a quite distinctive design, namely <a href=\"https:\/\/depquebec.com\/en\/crevier-express-adopts-a-futuristic-design\/\"><strong>Crevier Express<\/strong><\/a>;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>And last month, the newly merged<a href=\"https:\/\/depquebec.com\/en\/chain-profiles\/groupe-filgo-sonic\/\"> <strong>Filgo-Sonic Group<\/strong><\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.filgo.ca\/fr\/nouvelles\/detail\/52\/groupe-filgo-sonic-fait-l-acquisition-de-bell-gaz-ltee-et-de-la-compagnie-du-chemin-de-fer-lanaudiere-inc\/\">announced the acquisition of Bell-Gaz Ltd<\/a>., a leader in the sale and supply of propane in Quebec as well as the Lanaudi\u00e8re Railway Company.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>That&#8217;s <strong>way more than $ 1 billion worth of mergers and acquisitions<\/strong> in Quebec in less than a year in which approximately <strong>6 billion liters of gasoline sold per year have changed hands (according to our estimates). <\/strong>These transaction have not been initiated by multinational oil companies, but <strong>fast growing and highly dynamic regional petroleum distributors.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Certain common features emerge that may explain these transactions:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<figure id=\"attachment_101392\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-101392\" style=\"width: 275px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-101392\" src=\"https:\/\/depquebec.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/harnois-275x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"275\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/depquebec.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/harnois-275x300.jpg 275w, https:\/\/depquebec.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/harnois.jpg 366w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 275px) 100vw, 275px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-101392\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The new generation at the helm of the Harnois family: Luc, Serge and Claudine (source: CNW)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>In the case of the <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/depquebec.com\/marques-dessence\/crevier-2-2\/\">Crevier <\/a>\/ <a href=\"https:\/\/depquebec.com\/en\/list-of-gas-brands\/gaz-o-bar\/\">Gaz-O-Bar<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/depquebec.com\/profils-de-detaillants\/harnois-groupe-petrolier\/\">Harnois <\/a>\/ <a href=\"https:\/\/depquebec.com\/en\/list-of-gas-brands\/petro-t\/\">P\u00e9troles Therrien<\/a><\/strong> transactions, the companies purchased had succession issues (see <a href=\"http:\/\/www.infodimanche.com\/actualites\/affaires-et-economie\/311909\/le-groupe-crevier-acquiert-les-stations-service-gaz-o-bar\">here <\/a>on <strong>Gaz-O-Bar<\/strong> and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.lapresse.ca\/la-tribune\/affaires\/201507\/31\/01-4889489-lentreprise-petroles-therrien-a-ete-vendue.php\">here <\/a>on <strong>P\u00e9troles Therrien<\/strong>) while the purchasing companies have already managed their succession succesfully and are now being run by the second or third generation of owners;<\/li>\n<li>In the case of <strong>CST \/ <a href=\"https:\/\/depquebec.com\/en\/chain-profiles\/parkland-fuel-corporation-2\/\">Parkland<\/a><\/strong> and\u00a0<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/depquebec.com\/en\/list-of-gas-brands\/esso\/\">Esso <\/a>\/ <a href=\"https:\/\/depquebec.com\/profils-de-detaillants\/harnois-groupe-petrolier\/\">Harnois<\/a><\/strong>, transactions, they stem from the trend by multinational oil companies to divest themselves of their retail operations, a major trend that dates back several years and to which <strong>Petro-Canada<\/strong> remains the exception so far;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>In the case of the<a href=\"https:\/\/depquebec.com\/en\/chain-profiles\/groupe-filgo-sonic\/\"> <strong>Filgo and Sonic<\/strong><\/a> transaction, it is a winning marriage of diversified corporate cultures between, on the one hand, a hyper-dynamic Beauceron company and, on the other hand, a giant and extremely diversified cooperative. Both have a lot to gain from each other.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The other regional petroleum distributors such as <a href=\"https:\/\/depquebec.com\/profils-chaines\/f-dufresne\/\"><strong>F. Dufresne<\/strong><\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/depquebec.com\/en\/chain-profiles\/paquet-fils\/\"><strong>Paquet et Fils<\/strong><\/a> will surely not remain still for a very long time.<\/p>\n<p>It is safe to assume that we will hear about them soon enough because they too are hitting the gas!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>For some time now, it seems that not a month has passed without a petroleum distributor in Quebec buying another,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":101429,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1739,223],"tags":[738,743,789,790,788,1347,783,1082,1340,769,1153,787],"class_list":["post-101415","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gas-2","category-newsdep","tag-crevier","tag-cst","tag-f-dufresne","tag-f-paquet-et-fils","tag-filgo-sonic-group","tag-groupe-crevier-en","tag-harnois","tag-harnois-en","tag-mergers-and-acquisitions","tag-parkland","tag-petro-t-en","tag-petroleum-distributors"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/depquebec.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/webuyeverything3.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/depquebec.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101415","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/depquebec.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/depquebec.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/depquebec.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/depquebec.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=101415"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/depquebec.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101415\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/depquebec.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/101429"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/depquebec.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=101415"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/depquebec.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=101415"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/depquebec.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=101415"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}