TORR Canada Completes Acquisition of Pure Group AS
Montreal, Canada (ots/PRNewswire)
TORR Canada Inc. (TSX: TOR)
("TCI"), dedicated to providing innovative process solutions to the
Oil & Gas industry, today announced the closing of the acquisition of
all the shares of Norwegian-based Pure Group AS, a provider of
leading technologies for oil, gas and water purification.This acquisition announced on July 30, 2007 will enable TCI to offer a broader product offering and to access a larger distribution network. The final purchase price will be paid with CDN$10.5 million in cash, the issuance of 16,453,971 common shares of TORR, and the refinancing of an existing loan for approximately CDN$7.5 million.
"This is an important moment for us" said Alain Ferland, President and Chief Executive Officer of TORR Canada. "We are thrilled by the growth prospects this acquisition will bring us and look forward to working as a new and energized team dedicated to provide value to our customers and shareholders."
In order to refinance the repurchase of the preferred shares of Pure Group (the existing loan) and to finance current working capital requirements of the subsidiaries of Pure Group, TCI has secured a new credit facility with DnB Nor, Norway's largest financial services group. The new credit facility consists of (i) a five-year senior acquisition facility in an amount of 45,000,000NOK (approximately CDN$8,010,000 using the conversion rate of the Bank of Canada quoted on October 24, 2007) to finance the purchase of the shares and/or the repurchase of the preferred shares of Pure Group, (ii) a senior overdraft facility of 30,000,000NOK (approximately CDN$5,340,000 using the same conversion rate) and (iii) a guarantee facility of 15,000,000NOK (representing CDN$2,670,000 using the same conversion rate).
As previously announced, further to the recent disruption in the market for asset-backed security investments in Canada, TCI has approximately CDN$9 million of its liquidities invested in non-extensible asset-backed commercial paper which has not been repaid at maturity and currently remains outstanding. In order to prevent any liquidity concerns, TCI has entered into a new CDN$7.2 million credit facility with National Bank of Canada, with the asset-backed commercial paper being provided as security.
About TORR Canada Inc.
TCI is dedicated to providing solutions to the oil and gas industry. TCI designs, develops, manufactures and commercialises technologies to separate oil, water and gas generated by oil and gas production. For more information, please visit http://www.torrcanada.com. TCI recently acquired Pure Group AS of Norway recently.
Caution concerning forward-looking statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements. Such statements inherently involve numerous risks and uncertainties. Actual future results may differ from the anticipated results expressed in the forward-looking statements contained in this press release and TCI does not undertake to update this information. Investors are cautioned against placing undue importance on forward-looking information contained herein and should consult the final short form prospectus and the documents incorporated by reference therein, which contain a more exhaustive analysis of risks and uncertainties connected to TCI's business.
Contact:
For further information: TORR Canada Inc.: Jacques L. Drouin, Senior
Vice-President & CFO, +1-514-522-5550, ext. 226,
jdrouin@torrcanada.com; The Equicom Group Inc.: Danielle Ste-Marie,
+1-514-844-6064, dste-marie@equicomgroup.com