Canadian Tire Corporation is buying a 25% equity interest in PSA-operated Ashcroft Terminal, British Columbia’s largest inland port. Singapore terminal operator PSA will retain a majority interest of 60%, with the remaining 15% interest held by founding partner CrescentView Investments.
Ashcroft Terminal believes the partnership with Canadian Tire will allow it to further invest in infrastructure and capacity growth for the long-term. Ashcroft Terminal has become a hub to serve the needs of a broad range of industries and customers moving their products by rail. Canadian Tire should further diversify the customer base and enable Ashcroft Terminal to develop tailored solutions for retailers in North America while continuing to grow its service offerings to bulk customers.
“This investment will drive improvements in our network lead time and fulfillment performance, which are core to our domestic supply chain strategy, while reducing our carbon emissions by shifting volume from trucks to rail in Western Canada,” said Paul Draffin, chief supply chain officer, Canadian Tire Corporation. “Having strategic access to high-demand capacity will enable greater control over our end-to-end supply chain, which has become increasingly critical in a time where global supply chains have been completely disrupted and new resiliency is required.”
Ashcroft Terminal is the only major privately-owned industrial property in Canada where both Canadian National Railway and Canadian Pacific Railway run through, transporting import and export cargoes to and from the marine terminals in Vancouver, across Canada and other North American markets.
Commenting on the news via LinkedIn, Splash columnist Kris Kosmala mused: “A little, or a lot, of out of the circle thinking. Tire in the name, but home improvement in reality, Canadian retailer buys into key Canadian inland port ran by Singapore-based terminal operator PSA. And let’s not forget that Home Depot move, chartering their own vessel or two. Investing into inland terminal easily ups the ante. Would there be more of those ideas by retailers teaming up with terminal operators on significant logistics infrastructure plays?”
