Post says picture clears for Proprietary, somPost says picture clears for Proprietary, somewhat
2004-12-08 07:53 ET - In the News
See In the News (C-PPI) Proprietary Industries Inc
The Financial Post reports in its Wednesday edition that the four-month battle for the hearts and minds of shareholders of Proprietary Industries may not be finally over, but the picture is a lot clearer today than it has been for a while. The Post's Barry Critchley, writing in the Off the Record column, says the story -- which started in August when the first bid was made for the former scandal-ridden, tax loss-rich company -- is that PPI Acquisition snared 59.1 per cent of the target company via its 64-cent offer. Prior to the expiration of its offer, two large shareholders of Proprietary indicated they would be tendering to PPI's offer. Those two shareholders owned 28 per cent of the float. Accordingly, PPI acquired 31 per cent of the non-locked-up float. On the same day that PPI Acquisition announced the results of its offer, a rival suitor, Northern Financial Corp., announced that it had extended its cash-and-paper offer until Dec. 14. Murray Sinclair, a partner at Quest Capital, expressed satisfaction with the outcome. "The shareholders of Proprietary seemed pleased and we are happy with the result of our offer," he said. Quest plans to keep Proprietary as a going concern.