Edmonton, Alberta – June 15, 2010: Aecon Group Inc. (TSX: ARE) announced today that it has purchased 3,056,000 subscription receipts offered by Churchill Corporation (Churchill) under the terms of that company’s recently filed short form prospectus dated June 8, 2010.
Aecon purchased the securities for total consideration of $51,188,000 at the offering price of $16.75. Under the terms of the offering, the Subscription Receipts are exchangeable, without the payment of further consideration, into an equivalent number of common shares of Churchill on the completion of Churchill’s acquisition of Seacliff Construction Corp. which is expected on or before August 20, 2010.
As a result of the purchase, and including additional shares acquired through the facilities of The Toronto Stock Exchange, Aecon will, on the conversion of the Subscription Receipts, hold 3,513,600 common shares or approximately 14.9 percent of the outstanding common shares of Churchill Corporation.
“We made this investment because it is good value in a company and sector we know very well,” said John M. Beck, Aecon’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. “I believe this will give us the opportunity to explore areas of mutual interest over time. It is not our intention to acquire control of Churchill.”
“We have great respect for Churchill’s business and for its management team, and we have long had a view that there are many attractive potential synergies between parts of our two companies,” said Scott Balfour, Aecon’s President. “Churchill’s recent bid for the purchase of Seacliff, and the resulting public offering of securities, provided an opportunity for us to support their transaction and their financing, at a price we believe to be attractive.”