M&M Food Market

Canaccord Genuity Sawaya Partners Advises M&M Food Market on its Sale to Parkland

Canaccord Genuity Sawaya Partners is pleased to announce it has advised M&M Food Market, Canada’s leading retailer of frozen foods, on its sale to Parkland Corporation, a leading international operator and consolidator of convenience retail and fuel marketing businesses. The transaction comes after M&M Food Market’s successful efforts to rebrand, the transformation of its stores and food portfolio, and as the company pursues its strategy for additional Canadian growth and international expansion. M&M Food Market has been a portfolio company of Searchlight Capital Partners.

M&M Food Market helps Canadians put delicious meals on the table by offering consumers products that are prepared with care using authentic recipes and high-quality ingredients along with personalized customer service, all within a uniquely convenient shopping environment. Initially known as M&M Meat Shops, the company’s first store opened in Kitchener, Ontario in 1980. Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, franchised locations were opened across the country, and their products became synonymous with special occasions, entertaining, and everyday meals. M&M Food Market products include delicious and convenient options across virtually every food category, including appetizers, prepared meals, seafood, meats and poultry, vegetables, sides, bakery, and desserts, offered in formats ranging from individual portions to family-sized options.

In 2014, the company was acquired by Searchlight Capital Partners, and new leadership undertook the task of a full rebrand, extensive store renovations, and a complete menu overhaul to exclude certain ingredients, including artificial flavors, colors, and sweeteners. Today, M&M Food Market proudly operates over 300 stores and more than 2,000 M&M Express locations through innovative partnerships with top retailers, including Rexall, Beaudry-Cadrin, and Home Hardware.

M&M Food Market is headquartered in Mississauga, Ontario, with locations in all ten provinces, Yukon, and the Northwest Territories. The company has been recognized as one of Canada’s Best Managed Companies for 11 years in a row.

Parkland is a leading convenience store operator and independent supplier and marketer of fuel and petroleum products. The company services customers across Canada, the United States, the Caribbean region, and the Americas through three channels: Retail, Commercial, and Wholesale. Parkland optimizes its fuel supply across these three channels by operating and leveraging a growing portfolio of supply relationships and storage infrastructure.

Parkland has a track record of creating value for shareholders by focusing on its proven strategy of growing organically, realizing a supply advantage, and acquiring prudently and integrating successfully. The company’s focus on creating convenience destinations and growing their food offerings is expected to elevate the strength of the iconic M&M Food Market brand. Through the transaction, Parkland will also benefit from a national network of more than 300 M&M Food Market stores, more than 2,000 M&M Express locations, nearly 500 specialty frozen products, and M&M Food Market's deep investments in technology. Parkland will bring scale, and complementary leadership strength that will see M&M Food Market continue to grow in Canada, while expanding into new international markets.

The M&M Food Market team will play a leadership role in advancing Parkland’s food strategy. The M&M Food Market brand, leadership, franchise system, store network, and office in Mississauga, Ontario will remain in place. The company’s innovative approach to food preparation, national store network, and menu development will allow Parkland to offer new, restaurant quality food options that complement its existing quick serve restaurants. The Parkland and M&M Food Market management teams will grow these capabilities in all of Parkland’s operating regions and will also bolster the company’s connection to its customers by combining M&M Food Market and Parkland’s JOURNIE™ rewards programs to form a premier loyalty program.

Canaccord Genuity Sawaya Partners, with a team led by Joshua Michaels and Nick Enthoven and supported by Akhil Jaura, Neil Dantas, and Carl Chammas, served as financial advisor to M&M Food Market.