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Gold/Mining/Energy : Canadian REITS, Trusts & Dividend Stocks -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: trustmanic who wrote (3455)	6/14/2002 8:54:37 AM
From: bill	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 11633

What do you all make of this. I own Abitibi. is it better to stay with the common stock or, when this offering can be bought, sell the common and buy the trust units? Abitibi-Consolidated announces the sale of the St-Felicien mill to new SFK Pulp Fund Abitibi-Consolidated Inc. announced today that it has filed a preliminary prospectus with securities and regulatory authorities throughout Canada for an initial public offering of units of a newly created fund - SFK Pulp Fund. The Fund has been created to acquire Abitibi-Consolidated's northern bleached softwood kraft ("NBSK") pulp mill located in Saint-Felicien, Quebec. Following the offering, and if the over-allotment option is not exercised, Abitibi-Consolidated will continue to own an indirect minority interest of 49% in the Fund. Abitibi-Consolidated's interest in the Fund will be subordinated, in respect of monthly cash distributions, to the Fund units offered to the public until December 31, 2003. The mill manufactures approximately 340,000 metric tonnes of high-quality NBSK pulp annually and is one of the lowest-cost and most profitable producers of NBSK pulp in North America. "We are confident that the skills and experience of the mill's management and employees will make a success of this new venture," said John Weaver, President and Chief Executive Officer. "This transaction will improve our financial flexibility and allow us to get fair value for this quality asset, which was not fully integrated with our other activities," concluded Weaver. At the closing of the transaction, Abitibi-Consolidated will enter into a 20-year fibre supply agreement with the mill to maintain its current supply of fibre. The Fund has obtained commitments for $125 million in credit facilities from a syndicate of Canadian chartered banks, subject to customary conditions, of which $100 million is expected to be drawn at closing to fund in part the acquisition of the mill. The final prospectus is expected to be filed by early August and the closing of the transaction is subject to customary conditions and approvals. The underwriting syndicate is being co-led by CIBC World Markets Inc. and Scotia Capital Inc. and also includes National Bank Financial Inc., RBC Capital Markets and UBS Bunting Warburg Inc. ABOUT THE SAINT-FELICIEN MILL The mill is located in Saint-Felicien, Quebec, approximately 450 kilometres north of Montreal in the Lac-Saint-Jean region and employs approximately 327 people. The mill manufactures high-quality NBSK pulp and is one of the lowest-cost producers of NBSK pulp in Canada, where most North American NBSK pulp mills are located. Management believes that the mill is also one of the lowest-cost and most profitable producers of NBSK pulp in North America. The mill commenced production in 1978 with an initial capacity of approximately 670 metric tonnes per day. Improvements to the mill over the years have allowed for an increase in capacity to approximately 1,000 metric tonnes per day, contributing to maintaining the mill's competitive cost position and improving the quality of its product. The mill has achieved ISO 9002 certification with respect to its quality management programme as well as ISO 14001 certification with respect to its environmental management system. The mill supplies NBSK pulp to various sectors of the paper industry for use in products such as lightweight coated papers, groundwood specialities, supercalendered grades, high-quality woodfree coated grades, uncoated papers and premium tissues. ABOUT ABITIBI-CONSOLIDATED INC. Abitibi-Consolidated is a global leader in newsprint, uncoated groundwood papers and lumber with ownership interests in 27 paper mills in Canada, the U.S., the U.K. and Asia (including its 50% interest in Pan Asia Paper Co.) and in 22 sawmills, 3 remanufacturing facilities, a market pulp mill and 10 recycling centres. Abitibi-Consolidated employs approximately 17,000 and supplies products in nearly 100 countries. PROSPECTIVE STATEMENTS Some information contained in this release is prospective and may be affected by known or unknown risks and uncertainties, which are mostly outside the control of the Company. The results or events mentioned in such prospective information may differ substantially from the actual results or events. Among the factors that may give rise to variances between these results or events and the current forecasts are the overall economic situation in the United States and Canada and in countries where the Company and its subsidiaries currently do business, the

To: trustmanic who wrote (3455)	7/4/2002 10:17:07 AM
From: Lorne Larson	Read Replies (4) \| Respond to of 11633

I see both Clearwater and Contrans have now filed their preliminary prospectus. Haven't looked too closely at Clearwater, but did review the prospectus for Contrans. Looks like based on the last 12 months they would have distributed about $1.70 per unit. At a 12% yield this would translate into a unit price of around $14.00. The Contrans shares are presently trading at around $40.00, and each shareholder will get 4 units of the trust for a present cost of $10.00. I note Canadian Business magazine in its current issue quotes an analyst as stating that the shares should move to $56.00, which matches the above numbers pretty closely. Anybody have any thoughts. I assume a major concern (which in fact is commented on in the prospectus) is that their business is cyclical, and therefore not suited to an income trust.