Peregrine Corporation
TypePrivate
Industry
Founded1984
FounderFred Shahin
Headquarters
Adelaide, South Australia
OwnerShahin family
Number of employees
6500[1] (2020)
Websitewww.peregrine.com.au

The Peregrine Corporation is an Australian privately-owned company headquartered in Adelaide, South Australia. It formed and until April 2023 operated the On the Run brand of service stations and convenience store in South Australia, and the Smokemart and Giftbox (tobacconists /vape shops and variety retail stores) nationwide. Peregrine owns The Bend Motorsport Park at Tailem Bend, and the Mallala Motor Sport Park.

The company was founded by Fred Shahin in 1984 with the purchase of a BP service station in Woodville. Peregrine bought the Mobil fuel outlets in South Australia in 2010 and 25 company-owned BP outlets in 2014. The acquired sites were rebranded and upgraded to 24-hour OTR convenience stores along with the service stations. In 2020 Peregrine was listed at number 15 in the Australian Financial Review's "Top 500 Private Companies", with an estimated annual revenue of $2.6 billion.

History

Fathi (Fred) Shahin and his Palestinian family[2] moved to Lebanon during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, when he was ten years old. Shahin went to night school to qualify as an accountant. After working for the United Nations for 27 years, he and his family migrated to Australia.

When he could not find work, he bought a BP service station in the Adelaide suburb of Woodville, and the family lived on site.[3] Peregrine was founded in 1984 with the purchase of the service station, soon followed by a chain of Smokemart (tobacco retailer) stores across Adelaide.[4]

After Fred's death, three of his sons, Yasser, Khalil (Charlie) and Samer (Sam) took over the business.[3]

Peregrine bought 29 Mobil fuel outlets in South Australia in 2010 and 25 BP-owned outlets in 2014.[5][1][6] The acquired sites were rebranded and upgraded to 24-hour On The Run sites. By April 2023, Peregrine owned a chain of more than 170 OTR convenience stores and service stations.[7] Yasser Shahin and family were included on the BRW Rich 200 list in 2014.[3]

In 2015 Peregrine announced plans to redevelop the former Mitsubishi Motors Australia test site outside Tailem Bend as The Bend Motorsport Park, that opened in 2017, and in May 2017, announced the purchase of the Mallala Motor Sport Park.[8]

In 2016, Peregrine acquired the rights to operate Guzman y Gomez restaurants in South Australia.[9][10]

In 2020, Peregrine Corporation was listed at number nine in the Australian Financial Reviews "Top 500 Private Companies", with an estimated annual revenue of $2.6 billion.[11] As of September 2020, Peregrine was the 9th largest privately-owned company in Australia, and the largest in South Australia.[12]

In April 2023 Peregrine Corporation agreed terms to sell its OTR service station chain to Viva Energy. The transaction is subject to Australian Competition & Consumer Commission and Foreign Investment Review Board clearance.[13][14] The acquisition also includes Peregrine's businesses of Smokemart and Giftbox (SMGB) and Mogas. The Shahin family will also be a shareholder of Viva Energy.[15] The Shahin family's ownership of the Peregrine Property, Construction & Development (PCI) and Motorsport (The Bend and Mallala) divisions remains unchanged.

Controversies

Nasmin Pty Ltd, the registered owner of Nasmin Farm, was fined $28,000 for the 2012 dumping of 2,000 tonnes (2,200 short tons) of slightly contaminated soil, taken from the redevelopment of an On the Run store located on Nasmin Farm.[16]

In 2018 the OTR brand of the company received significant criticism from consumers and environmental groups[17][18] for a decision to ban reusable coffee cups, amongst growing concerns of the negative effect of the 1.2 billion disposable cups that end-up in landfill in Australia each year.[19]

A class action on behalf of 1,050 On the Run workers was lodged with the Federal Court of Australia on 13 May 2020. The company was accused of failing to pay overtime, underpaying staff and misusing its traineeship program as a method to reduce workers' pay, dating back to 2014 and involving all stores in South Australia. OTR allegedly used eight different wage minimisation tactics that enabled gross underpayment of its staff. In March 2020, the Federal Court had upheld a separate decision by the South Australian Employment Tribunal to award $2,342 to an OTR employee who had been underpaid.[20]

In 2020 there was opposition by local residents to a planned OTR outlet on Kensington Road in Kensington Park,[21] and to the expansion of the Peregrine headquarters building in Kensington to a height of seven storeys with a helipad on top of the building.[22][23]

In August 2020 Peregrine was ordered by the South Australian Employment Tribunal to pay $65,000 to an employee after being found to have deliberately underpaid him over the period of a year in 2016, at an OTR at Fulham.[24]

References

  1. 1 2 "About Us". Peregrine Corporation. Retrieved 29 December 2016.
  2. ↑ Washington, David (22 May 2019). "Branding the OTR empire: the inside story". InDaily. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
  3. 1 2 3 "BRW Rich 200 list 2014: 102. Yasser Shahin & family". BRW. Fairfax Media. 27 June 2014. Archived from the original on 13 May 2017. Retrieved 24 July 2014.
  4. ↑ Kemp, Miles; Swallow, Julian (19 May 2013). "Fortunes of families Trim and Shahin change dramatically". Sunday Mail. Adelaide. Retrieved 24 July 2014.
  5. ↑ "ACCC will not oppose Peregrine's proposed acquisition of BP petrol station sites in SA". Australian Competition & Consumer Commission. 8 May 2014. Retrieved 24 July 2014.
  6. ↑ "7-Eleven buys Mobil sites". Australian Financial Review. 28 May 2010. Retrieved 16 April 2022.
  7. ↑ "About Us". OTR. Retrieved 16 April 2023.
  8. ↑ Kemp, Miles (11 May 2017). "SA's No. 1 motorsport fan Sam Shahin plans to improve Mallala Motor Sport Park after buying it". The Advertiser. Adelaide: News Corp. Retrieved 12 May 2017.
  9. ↑ "Guzman y Gomez sets its sights on South Australia". QSR Media. 2016–2017. Retrieved 21 April 2023.
  10. ↑ "Shahin Enterprises Pty Ltd [2018] SALC 111". Licensing Court of South Australia. Retrieved 21 April 2023.
  11. ↑ "Top 500 Private Companies: Gina Rinehart's Hancock Prospecting beats Visy as Australia's biggest private company". Australian Financial Review. 6 September 2020. Retrieved 25 May 2021.
  12. ↑ Michael, Bailey (7 September 2020). "Australian Financial Review". Retrieved 7 September 2020.
  13. ↑ "Viva Energy to acquire OTR Group, transforming its Convenience and Mobility retail business" (PDF). Australian Securities Exchange. Viva Energy. 5 April 2023. Archived (PDF) from the original on 5 April 2023.
  14. ↑ "Service station chain OTR to be sold for $1.15 billion to Viva Energy to 'replace' Coles Express across 700 sites". ABC News. 5 April 2023.
  15. ↑ "OTR goes national in deal with Viva Energy". OTR. 5 April 2023.
  16. ↑ Costello, J. (26 April 2016). "WOOD v NASMIN P/L". Environment Resources and Development Court of South Australia. Government of South Australia. Retrieved 28 May 2021 – via AustLII.
  17. ↑ Thompson, Sean (5 June 2018). "On the Run service station bans reusable coffee cups". www.9news.com.au. Retrieved 9 June 2018.
  18. ↑ "Major SA coffee seller bans reusable cups — including its own". ABC News. Australia. 5 June 2018. Retrieved 9 June 2018.
  19. ↑ Raskall, Allan (26 March 2018). "7-Eleven installs recycling bins for takeaway coffee cups". www.9news.com.au. Retrieved 9 June 2018.
  20. ↑ "OTR workers bring Federal Class Action Suit". ABC News. Australia. 13 May 2020. Retrieved 13 May 2020.
  21. ↑ "Peregrine Mixed Use Major Development – Submissions have now closed". SA Planning Portal. 16 April 2020. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
  22. ↑ Cameron, Ben (18 July 2019). "Council could seek to ban Peregrine chopper landings". Adelaide Now. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
  23. ↑ Sutton, Malcolm (12 March 2020). "Helipad proposal near suburban Norwood is 'development by stealth', residents say". ABC News. Australia. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
  24. ↑ Nielsen, Ben (18 August 2020). "Convenience store chain OTR to pay $65,000 over 'deliberate exploitation' of worker". ABC News. Australia. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
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