- Secured up to $210 million
financing from Canada Infrastructure Bank to help de-risk and fund
future investment in EV charging
- Multi-year opportunity to strengthen existing EV charging
network in British Columbia and
expand into other provinces with tangible consumer demand,
including Ontario and Quebec
CALGARY,
AB, Nov. 16, 2023 /CNW/ - Parkland Corporation
("Parkland", "we", the "Company", or "our") (TSX: PKI), today
announced that it has secured up to $210
million of financing from Canada Infrastructure Bank ("CIB")
to support the continued multi-year growth of its electric vehicle
("EV") charging network.
Parkland's existing EV charging network is primarily located in
British Columbia ("BC") which has
the highest proportion of EV drivers in North America. Co-located with our retail fuel
sites, our EV charging proposition offers customers unrivalled
amenities including convenience stores, restaurants, washrooms, and
well-lit, fully staffed locations. Parkland has 37 locations
already operational and is on track to have 50 charging locations
in operation by early 2024.
"Our initial investments in EV charging have been positive,"
said Darren Smart, SVP Energy
Transition and Corporate Development. "Strong customer utilization
has validated our strategy to build scale in markets with tangible
demand and has confirmed our belief that a high-quality customer
experience matters. I want to compliment the CIB, on their
financing model which helps incentivize and de-risk investments in
EV charging. We will be strategic in deploying this financing to
expand our charging network, while also exploring additional third
party capital opportunities to fund our own, and potential
third-party sites."
"By investing in charging infrastructure, we can support EV
adoption and help to significantly reduce transportation sector
greenhouse gas emissions. Our financing agreement with Parkland
paves the way for up to 2,000 public fast charging ports to come
online across Canada," said
Ehren Cory, CEO, Canada
Infrastructure Bank. "Since the launch of our Charging and Hydrogen
Refuelling Infrastructure initiative, we moved quickly to
collaborate with the private sector and are nearing our initial
investment target of $500 million. As
part of the increased sector target for Green Infrastructure, which
is now $10 billion, we will continue
to meet the strong market demand for this initiative and expand the
availability of charging infrastructure."
CIB has provided an 18-year financing facility on attractive
financial terms, including principal repayments which are tied to
utilization of the installed EV chargers. CIB will fund up to
eighty percent of capital deployed to install the chargers over
four years, significantly de-risking the expansion of Parkland's EV
charging network. Parkland has created a specific project finance
entity for this CIB financing, which is non-recourse to
Parkland.
The EV charging market is rapidly evolving. As we follow
consumer behaviour we see that there may be potential opportunities
beyond our network in third party sites. Funding for these sites
would come from a combination of CIB and other potential external
capital sources.
About Parkland
Corporation
Parkland is an international fuel distributor and retailer with
operations in twenty-five countries. Our purpose is to power what
moves people, and every day, we provide over one million customers
with the essential fuels, convenience items and quality foods on
which they depend.
With approximately 4,000 retail and commercial locations across
Canada, the United States, and the Caribbean region, we have developed supply,
distribution, and trading capabilities to accelerate growth and
business performance. In addition to meeting our customers' needs
for essential fuels, we provide a range of choices to help them
lower their environmental impact. These include carbon and
renewables trading, solar power, renewables manufacturing and
ultrafast Electric Vehicle charging.
Our proven business model is centred around organic growth, our
supply advantage, driven by scale and our integrated refinery and
supply infrastructure, acquiring prudently, and integrating
successfully. Our strategy is focused on developing our existing
business in resilient markets, growing our food, convenience, and
renewable energy businesses, and helping customers to decarbonize.
Our business is underpinned by our people, and our values; safety,
integrity, community, and respect, which are deeply embedded across
our organization.
Forward Looking Statement on
behalf of Parkland
Certain statements contained in this news release constitute
forward-looking information and statements (collectively,
"forward-looking statements"). When used in this news release the
words "expect", "will" and similar expressions are intended to
identify forward-looking statements. In particular, this news
release contains forward-looking statements with respect to, among
other things: Parkland's business objectives, strategies, projects
and plans and the execution and impact thereof; the growth and
expansion of the EV charging network and expectations for future
charging locations, including Parkland's expectation to have 50
charging locations in operation by early 2024; expectations for the
financing received from CIB, including the terms, timing and uses
of the funds; and Parkland's plan to explore additional third party
capital opportunities to fund its own or third-party sites.
These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties
and other factors that may cause actual results or events to differ
materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking
statements. No assurance can be given that these expectations will
prove to be correct and such forward-looking statements included in
this news release should not be unduly relied upon. These
forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this news
release. Parkland does not undertake any obligations to publicly
update or revise any forward-looking statements except as may be
required by securities law. Actual results could differ materially
from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a
result of numerous risks, assumptions and uncertainties including,
but not limited to: general economic, market and business
conditions; consumer preferences and trends; continued access to
financing from CIB on expected terms; availability of third party
capital opportunities; competitive action by other companies; the
ability of suppliers to meet commitments; actions by governmental
authorities and other regulators including but not limited to
increases in taxes or restricted access to markets; changes and
developments in environmental and other regulations; and other
factors, many of which are beyond the control of Parkland. See also
the risks and uncertainties described in "Cautionary Statement
Regarding Forward-Looking Information" and "Risk Factors" included
in Parkland's Annual Information Form dated March 21, 2023, and "Forward-Looking Information"
and "Risk Factors" included in the Q3 2023 MD&A dated
November 1, 2023 , each filed on
SEDAR+ and available on the Parkland website at www.parkland.ca.The
forward-looking statements in this news release are expressly
qualified by this cautionary statement.
SOURCE Parkland Corporation