INTERFOR CORPORATION (“Interfor” or the “Company”)
(TSX: IFP) announced today its intention to commence a substantial
issuer bid (the “Offer”) pursuant to which the Company will offer
to purchase up to $100,000,000 in value of its outstanding common
shares (the “Shares”) for cancellation from holders of Shares (the
“Shareholders”) for cash. The Offer will proceed by way of a
“modified Dutch auction” procedure with a tender price range from
$29.00 to $34.00 per Share, representing a 3.5% to a 21.3% premium
over the Company’s volume-weighted average price on the Toronto
Stock Exchange over the last 20 trading days.
As of July 25, 2022, there were 54,787,641 Shares issued and
outstanding. The Offer would be for approximately 6.3% of the total
number of issued and outstanding Shares if the purchase price is
determined to be $29.00 (which is the minimum price per Share under
the Offer) or approximately 5.4% of the total number of issued and
outstanding Shares if the purchase price is determined to be $34.00
(which is the maximum price per Share under the Offer).
Holders of Shares wishing to tender to the Offer will be
entitled to do so pursuant to: (i) auction tenders in which they
will specify the number of Shares being tendered at a price of not
less than $29.00 and not more than $34.00 per Share in increments
of $0.10 per Share, or (ii) purchase price tenders in which they
will not specify a price per Share, but will rather agree to have a
specified number of Shares purchased at the purchase price to be
determined by auction tenders. Shareholders who validly deposit
Shares without specifying the method in which they are tendering
their Shares will be deemed to have made a purchase price
tender.
The purchase price to be paid by the Company for each validly
deposited Share will be based on the number of Shares validly
deposited pursuant to auction tenders and purchase price tenders,
and the prices specified by Shareholders making auction tenders.
The purchase price will be the lowest price which enables the
Company to purchase the maximum number of Shares not exceeding an
aggregate of $100,000,000 in value based on valid auction tenders
and purchase price tenders, determined in accordance with the terms
of the Offer. Shares deposited at or below the finally determined
purchase price will be purchased at such purchase price. Shares
that are not taken up in connection with the Offer, including
Shares deposited pursuant to auction tenders at prices above the
purchase price, will be returned to Shareholders that tendered to
the Offer.
If the aggregate purchase price for Shares validly tendered
pursuant to auction tenders and purchase price tenders is greater
than the amount available for auction tenders and purchase price
tenders, the Company will purchase Shares from the holders of
Shares who made purchase price tenders or tendered at or below the
finally determined purchase price on a pro rata basis, except that
“odd lot” holders (holders of less than 100 Shares) will not be
subject to proration.
The Offer will commence on August 2, 2022 and expire at 5:00
p.m. (Eastern time) on September 8, 2022 (the “Expiration Time”),
unless withdrawn or extended. The Offer will not be conditional
upon any minimum number of Shares being tendered. The Offer will,
however, be subject to other conditions and the Company will
reserve the right, subject to applicable laws, to withdraw or amend
the Offer, if, at any time prior to the payment of deposited
Shares, certain events occur.
Under the Company’s normal course issuer bid that commenced on
November 11, 2021 (the “NCIB”), the Company purchased for
cancellation an aggregate of 6,041,701 Shares, being the maximum
allowable number of Shares that may be purchased under the NCIB.
Accordingly, the Company will not be making further acquisitions of
Shares pursuant to the NCIB prior to its expiry on November 10,
2022.
The Board of Directors of the Company believes that the Offer is
a prudent use of the Company's financial resources given the
Company's business profile and assets, the current market price of
the Shares and the Company's ongoing cash requirements. The Board
of Directors of the Company also believes the Offer will provide
Shareholders with the option to access liquidity with respect to
their Shares that may not otherwise be available on the TSX. The
Company plans to fund repurchases of Shares through available cash
on hand. The Offer is optional for all shareholders, who are free
to choose whether to participate, how many Shares to tender and, in
the case of auction tenders, at what price to tender within the
specified range. Any shareholders who do not deposit their Shares
(or whose Shares are not repurchased under the Offer) will realize
a proportionate increase in their equity interest in the Company,
to the extent that Shares are purchased under the Offer.
Interfor directors and officers do not have a present intention
to tender any Shares pursuant to the Offer.
Details of the Offer, including instructions for tendering
Shares to the Offer and the factors considered by the Board of
Directors in making its decision to approve the Offer, will be
included in the formal offer to purchase and issuer bid circular
and other related documents (the “Offer Documents”). The Offer
Documents will be mailed to Shareholders, filed with applicable
Canadian securities regulatory authorities and made available
without charge on SEDAR at www.sedar.com, and posted on the
Company’s website at www.interfor.com.
Interfor has engaged RBC Capital Markets (“RBC”) as financial
advisor to the Offer. The Board of Directors of the
Company has obtained a liquidity opinion, on a voluntary basis,
from RBC to the effect that, based on and subject to the
qualifications, assumptions and limitations stated in such opinion,
a liquid market for the Shares exists as of July 25, 2022, and that
it is reasonable to conclude that, following the completion of the
Offer in accordance with its terms, there will be a market for the
holders of Shares who do not tender to the Offer that is not
materially less liquid than the market that existed at the time of
the making of the Offer. A copy of the opinion of RBC will be
included in the Offer Documents.
Computershare Investor Services Inc. has been engaged by
Interfor to act as depository for the Offer. Shareholders who have
questions regarding the Offer or require any assistance tendering
Shares may contact Computershare Investor Services by telephone at
1-800-564-6253 (North America) or 514-982-7555 (International), or
by e-mail at corporateactions@computershare.com.
Interfor has not engaged a dealer manager for the Offer but
reserves the right to do so before the Offer expires.
The Board of Directors of the Company has approved the Offer.
However, none of the Company, its Board of Directors, RBC or
Computershare makes any recommendation to any Shareholder as to
whether to deposit or refrain from depositing Shares under the
Offer. Shareholders are urged to evaluate carefully all information
in the Offer Documents, consult their own financial, legal,
investment and tax advisors and make their own decisions as to
whether to deposit Shares under the Offer, and, if so, how many
Shares to deposit and at what price(s).
The Offer referred to in this news release has not yet
commenced. This news release is for informational purposes only and
does not constitute an offer to buy or the solicitation of an offer
to sell Shares. The solicitation and the offer to buy Shares will
only be made pursuant to the Offer Documents that are filed with
the Canadian securities regulatory authorities. The offer will not
be made to, nor will tenders be accepted from or on behalf of,
holders of Shares in any jurisdiction in which the making or
acceptance of offers to sell Shares would not be in compliance with
the laws of that jurisdiction.
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This news release contains forward-looking information about the
Company’s current intentions regarding commencement of the Offer,
the timing of the Offer, terms and conditions of the Offer, the
ultimate purchase price, the number of Shares to be purchased and
the amount of capital to be returned to shareholders under the
Offer. Any such forward-looking information is based on information
currently available to Interfor and is based on assumptions and
analyses made in light of Interfor’s experience and perception of
historical trends and current conditions. Readers are cautioned
that actual results may vary from the forward-looking information,
and undue reliance should not be placed on such forward-looking
information. Risk factors that could cause actual results to differ
materially from the forward-looking information in this release are
described in Interfor’s most recent first quarter and annual
Management’s Discussion and Analysis under the heading “Risks and
Uncertainties”, which are available on www.interfor.com and under
Interfor’s profile on www.sedar.com. Unless otherwise indicated,
the forward-looking statements in this release are based on the
Company’s expectations at the date of this release. Interfor
undertakes no obligation to update such forward-looking information
or statements, except as required by law.
ABOUT INTERFOR
Interfor is a growth-oriented forest products company with
operations in Canada and the United States. The Company has annual
lumber production capacity of approximately 4.7 billion board feet
and offers a diverse line of lumber products to customers around
the world. For more information about Interfor, visit our website
at www.interfor.com.
Investor Contacts:
Rick Pozzebon, Senior Vice President & Chief Financial
Officer(604) 689-6804
Mike Mackay, Vice President of Corporate Development &
Strategy (604) 689-6846
Media Contact:
Svetlana Kayumova, Manager of Corporate Affairs(604)
422-7329svetlana.kayumova@interfor.com
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