FAX Capital Corp. (the “
Company”) (TSX: FXC) is
pleased to announce that it has entered into a definitive
arrangement agreement (the “
Arrangement
Agreement”) with Federated Capital Corp.
(“
FCC”) and Fax Investments Inc., a wholly-owned
subsidiary of FCC (together with FCC, the
“
Purchaser”), pursuant to which the Purchaser has
agreed to acquire, indirectly through an acquisition company, all
of the Company’s outstanding subordinated voting shares (the
“
Subordinate Voting Shares”) not
currently owned by the Purchaser or Blair Driscoll, the Company’s
Chief Executive Officer (together, the “
Continuing
Shareholders”), by way of a court-approved plan of
arrangement under the Canada Business Corporations Act (the
“
Transaction”). As at the date hereof, the
Continuing Shareholders own or control, directly or indirectly, an
aggregate of 609,247 Subordinate Voting Shares, representing 3.92%
of the Company’s issued and outstanding Subordinate Voting Shares
and the Purchaser owns 26,971,411 of the Company’s outstanding
multiple voting shares (the “
Multiple Voting
Shares”), representing 100% of the Company’s issued and
outstanding Multiple Voting Shares.
In accordance with the terms of the Arrangement
Agreement, the holders of the Subordinated Voting Shares will
receive cash consideration of $5.18 per Subordinate Voting Share,
representing a premium of approximately 53.7% to the closing price
on the Toronto Stock Exchange (the “TSX”) of $3.37
per Subordinate Voting Share on April 29, 2022, the last trading
day prior to the announcement of the Transaction, and a premium of
approximately 47.7% to the 20-day volume weighted average trading
price per Subordinate Voting Share on the TSX of $3.51 as at that
date.
The Company’s board of directors (the
“Board”), with certain directors declaring their
conflicts of interest and abstaining from voting, unanimously
approved the Arrangement Agreement following receipt of the
unanimous recommendation of a special committee made up solely of
independent directors (the “Special Committee”),
appointed by the Board to, among other matters, consider strategic
alternatives for the Company, including reviewing and considering
the Transaction and providing the Board with advice and
recommendations with respect to the Transaction. As such,
the Board intends to unanimously, with certain interested directors
abstaining from voting, recommend that holders of Subordinate
Voting Shares vote in favour of the Transaction. The
Company intends to hold an Annual General and Special Meeting in
June 2022 (the “Shareholders’ Meeting”), where the
Transaction will be considered and voted upon by shareholders of
record. Assuming the timely receipt of all required approvals, the
Transaction is expected to close early in the third quarter of
2022.
In connection with their review and
consideration of the Transaction, the Special Committee engaged
Scotia Capital Inc. (“Scotiabank”) as its
independent valuator and exclusive financial advisor in respect of
the Transaction. Scotiabank prepared a formal valuation, in
accordance with Multilateral Instrument 61-101 - Protection of
Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions (“MI
61-101”), opining that, as of April 29, 2022 and subject
to the assumptions, limitations and qualifications contained in
Scotiabank’s formal valuation presentation to the Special
Committee, the fair market value of the Subordinate Voting Shares
ranged between $4.25 and $5.25 per Subordinate Voting Share. In
addition, Scotiabank provided an opinion to the Special Committee
that, subject to the assumptions, limitations and qualifications
set out in its presentation to the Special Committee, the
consideration to be received by the holders of Subordinate Voting
Shares (other than the Continuing Shareholders) pursuant to the
Transaction is fair, from a financial point of view, to such
shareholders.
Additional Transaction
Details
The Transaction is to be completed by way of a
plan of arrangement under the Canada Business Corporations Act and
will constitute a “business combination” for purposes of MI 61-101.
The Transaction is subject to approval at the Shareholders’ Meeting
by: (i) at least two-thirds of the votes cast by shareholders
(voting together as a single class, with each holder of Subordinate
Voting Shares being entitled to one vote per share and each holder
of the Multiple Voting Shares being entitled to ten votes per
share); and (ii) a simple majority of the votes cast by holders of
Subordinate Voting Shares (excluding the Subordinate Voting Shares
held by the Continuing Shareholders and any other shares required
to be excluded pursuant to MI 61-101). In addition, completion of
the Transaction is subject to other customary conditions, including
receipt of court approval and approval from the TSX. The
Transaction is not subject to a financing condition.
The Arrangement Agreement includes customary
non-solicitation provisions, which are subject to customary
"fiduciary out" provisions that entitle the Company to terminate
the Arrangement Agreement and accept a superior proposal if the
Purchaser does not match the superior proposal. Each party has
agreed to pay the other’s transaction expenses upon the termination
of the Arrangement Agreement in certain circumstances, as set out
in the Arrangement Agreement.
Each of the directors and executive officers of
the Company have agreed to vote in favor of the Transaction
pursuant to voting and support agreements.
Further information regarding the Transaction,
the Arrangement Agreement and the Shareholders’ Meeting, including
a copy of Scotiabank’s formal valuation and fairness opinion, will
be included in the management information circular expected to be
mailed to holders of Subordinate Voting Shares of record in early
June 2022. Copies of the Arrangement Agreement and proxy materials
in respect of the Shareholders’ Meeting will be available on SEDAR
at www.sedar.com.
Early Warning Disclosure by the
Purchaser
Further to the requirements of National
Instrument 62-104 Take-Over Bids and Issuer Bids and National
Instrument 62-103 The Early Warning System and Related Take-Over
Bid and Insider Reporting Issues, the Purchaser, being entities
that are owned and controlled by the Driscoll family, will file an
early warning report stipulating, they intend to acquire, directly
or indirectly, all of the issued and outstanding Subordinate Voting
Shares (other than those owned by the Continuing Shareholders) by
way of a plan of arrangement.
Upon closing of the Transaction, the Purchaser
intends to cause the Subordinate Voting Shares to cease to be
listed on the TSX and to cause the Company to submit an application
to cease to be a reporting issuer under applicable Canadian
securities laws.
A copy of the Purchaser’s early warning report
will be filed with the applicable securities commissions and will
be made available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Further information
and a copy of the Purchaser’s early warning report may be obtained
by contacting Blair Driscoll, at 416-364-8788.
Advisors
Scotiabank is acting as exclusive financial
advisor to the Special Committee and as independent valuator.
Norton Rose Fulbright Canada LLP is acting as legal advisor to the
Company. Dentons Canada LLP is acting as legal advisor to the
Special Committee. Aird & Berlis LLP is acting as legal advisor
to the Purchaser and Federated Capital Corp. McCarthy Tétrault LLP
is acting as legal counsel to Scotiabank.
About FAX Capital Corp.
The Company is an investment holding company
with a business objective to maximize its intrinsic value on a per
share basis over the long-term by seeking to achieve superior
investment performance commensurate with reasonable risk. The
Company intends to invest in equity, debt and/or hybrid securities
of high-quality businesses. The Company initially intends to invest
in approximately 10 to 15 high-quality small cap public and private
businesses located primarily in Canada and, to a lesser extent, the
United States. For further information, please visit the Company’s
website at www.faxcapitalcorp.com.
For additional information
please contact:
Investor RelationsTim
ForanEmail: IR@faxcapitalcorp.comWebsite: www.faxcapitalcorp.com
Media RelationsKieran LawlerTelephone: (416)
303-0799Email: Kieran.lawler@loderockadvisors.com
No Offer or Solicitation
This announcement is for informational purposes
only and does not constitute an offer to purchase or a solicitation
of an offer to sell Subordinate Voting Shares.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking
Information
This press release contains forward-looking
information. Such forward-looking information or statements
(“FLS”) are provided for the
purpose of providing information about management's current
expectations and plans relating to the future. Readers are
cautioned that reliance on such information may not be appropriate
for other purposes. Any such FLS may be identified by words such as
“proposed”, “expects”, “intends”, “may”, “will”, and similar
expressions. FLS contained or referred to in this press release
includes, but is not limited to, statements regarding the proposed
timing and various steps contemplated in respect of the
Transaction, the holding of the Shareholders’ Meeting, and the
completion of the proposed Transaction, as well as statements
concerning the Company’s investment approach, objectives and
strategy. Although the Company believes that the expectations
reflected in such FLS is reasonable, undue reliance should not be
placed on FLS because the Company can give no assurance that such
expectations will prove to be correct.
FLS are based on a number of factors and
assumptions which have been used to develop such statements and
information, but which may prove to be incorrect, including:
assumptions as to the ability of the parties to receive, in a
timely manner and on satisfactory terms, the necessary shareholder,
court and stock exchange approvals; the ability of the parties to
satisfy, in a timely manner, the other conditions to the completion
of the proposed Transaction; and other expectations and assumptions
concerning the proposed Transaction. The anticipated dates
indicated may change for a number of reasons, including the
inability to receive, in a timely manner, the necessary shareholder
approvals, and court approvals or the necessity to extend the time
limits for satisfying the other conditions to the completion of the
proposed transaction. Accordingly, investors and others are
cautioned that undue reliance should not be placed on any
forward-looking statements.
Risks and uncertainties inherent in the nature
of the proposed Transaction that could cause actual results to
differ materially from those described in such FLS include, but are
not limited to, the failure of the parties to obtain the necessary
shareholder, court and stock exchange approvals or to otherwise
satisfy the conditions to the completion of the proposed
Transaction; failure of the parties to obtain such approvals or
satisfy such conditions in a timely manner; significant transaction
costs or unknown liabilities; the failure to realize the expected
benefits of the proposed Transaction; and general economic
conditions; as well as the identified risk factors included in the
Company’s public disclosure, including the annual information form
dated March 29, 2022, which is available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com
and on the Company’s website at www.faxcapitalcorp.com. Failure to
obtain the necessary shareholder, court and stock exchange
approvals, or the failure of the parties to otherwise satisfy the
conditions to the completion of the proposed transaction or to
complete the proposed transaction, may result in the proposed
Transaction not being completed on the proposed terms, or at all.
In addition, if the proposed Transaction is not completed, and the
Company continues as an independent entity, there are risks that
the announcement of the proposed Transaction and the dedication of
substantial resources of the Company to the completion of the
proposed Transaction could have an impact on its business,
operating results and activities in general. The FLS in this press
release reflect the current expectations, assumptions, judgements
and/or beliefs of the Company based on information currently
available to the Company, and are subject to change without notice.
Consequently, the reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance
on the forward-looking statements and information contained in this
press release.
Any FLS speaks only as of the date on which it
is made and, except as may be required by applicable securities
laws, the Company disclaims any intent or obligation to update any
FLS, whether as a result of new information, future events or
results or otherwise. The FLS contained in this press release are
expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. For more
information on the Company, please review the Company's continuous
disclosure filings that are available at www.sedar.com.
No securities regulatory authority has either
approved or disapproved of the contents of this news release. The
TSX accepts no responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this
release.
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