In the wake of a months-long pursuit of a buyer for Advance Auto Parts’ Worldpac operation, and its announced sale to Carlyle, the organization has announced that it will be retaining its Canadian business best known as Carquest Canada.

During the second quarter financial results call the sale of the Worldpac business was a key highlight. Throughout what the organziation had called a “potential sale” of Worldpac, it was often mentioned that the “potential sale” of the Canadian business would be addressed following the finalization of plans on the Worldpac sale.

That sale, for $1.5 Billion USD, was formally announced just prior to the investor call.

During that investor call, Advance Auto Parts president and CEO Shane O’Kelly offered that the sale of Worldpac provides Advance an opportunity.

“Despite the headwinds, our team maintained focus on serving customers and driving progress on our strategic priorities. We ended the second quarter with positive comparable sales growth of 0.4% led by our pro-business. DIY remained pressured, but improved sequentially.

“Our second quarter comp performance is a step in the right direction. Moreover, the opportunity ahead of us to drive sustainable growth, recapture market share and position Advance for long-term value creation remain substantial.

“Turnarounds take time, but our team is solid and putting in the work. The macro environment is challenging, retailers are lowering expectations and we’re starting from a lower baseline relative to the industry. On the other hand, we successfully managed through a difficult quarter and navigated a complex M&A process with a successful Worldpac transaction that substantially strengthens our balance sheet. We know what we need to do from here.”

O’Kelly said to that a visit to the Carquest Canada operation provided some key insights that helped in the decision-making regarding Canada.

“During the second quarter, I traveled to Canada and was impressed by the deep expertise and market knowledge that our long-tenured Canadian team brings to the business. Our business model aligns well with our US operations and that team has consistently delivered strong performance.

“As a result, we have made the decision to retain our Canadian operations. I would like to thank our Canadian team for their patience during the review where they maintained an unwavering focus on serving our customers and I look forward to working with this team to grow the business.”

Despite the announced sale of Worldpac to Calrlyle–expected to close later this year–both Carquest Canada and Worldpac Canada are expected to continue sharing the Bolton, Ontario Distribution Centre opened in 2023.

Both organizations operate Canadian headquarters from the facility but do so separately from both a systems and personnel standpoint and in terms of the phyiscal location of the inventories of each organization within the factility.