Parkland undertook a strategic review in March following pressure from shareholders.DARRYL DYCK/The Canadian Press
Parkland Corp. PKI-T shareholders on Tuesday voted in favor of a US$9.1-billion deal to be acquired by U.S.-based Sunoco SUN-N.
The company said 93.46 per cent of the votes were for the deal, which will create America’s largest independent fuel distributor.
Sunoco in May agreed to buy Parkland in a cash and stock deal, which included debt. Sunoco had said each Parkland share will be exchanged for C$19.80 in cash and 0.295 of Sunoco units.
The Calgary-based company had undertaken a strategic review in March following persistent pressure from two of its largest shareholders, Simpson Oil, which holds a nearly 20-per-cent stake, and activist investor Engine Capital.
Parkland owns the Ultramar, Chevron and Pioneer gas station chains as well as several other brands in 26 countries and a refinery in Burnaby, B.C.
Sunoco will also be acquiring the 55,000-barrel-per-day Burnaby refinery, which produces 25 per cent of the transportation fuel used in British Columbia.
The transaction is expected to close in the second half of the year.
At a special meeting, shareholders also voted in support of the director nominees that Parkland’s management put forward, drawing an end to a bitter proxy fight with an activist investor seeking a board overhaul.
The deal is still awaiting approval under the Investment Canada Act, which considers foreign investments in Canadian businesses, and approval to list shares of the combined company on the New York Stock Exchange.
With reports from The Canadian Press