Thursday, funeral service provider Service Corp. International (SCI)said it signed a definitive agreement to purchase all the outstanding common shares of Florida-based Keystone North America Inc.(KNA.TO), a provider of death-care products and services, for approximately $256 million including outstanding debt.
The Houston, Texas-based Service Corp. intends to finance the transaction with cash on hand and a $250 million bridge facility from JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. and Bank of America, N.A. The company also added that it has a number of debt capital market alternatives and will determine the optimal funding structure consisting of a combination of long-term permanent debt and short-term pre-payable debt prior to the close of the transaction.
Mike Webb, executive vice president and chief operating officer, said, "This transaction and the addition of key members of the Keystone Management team, including President and CEO Steve Tidwell, will position us as the unparalleled leader in this market with over 500 businesses, generating more than $350 million in revenues and serving over 68,000 families per year."
The offer price, C$8.00 per share, represents a 38% premium to Keystone's most recent 50-day average share price. The transaction is conditioned upon, among other things, the tender of at least two-thirds of the outstanding shares of Keystone's common shares, calculated on a fully diluted basis.
The deal, which has been approved by the Boards of Directors of both companies, is anticipated to close in the first quarter of 2010.
SCI is trading on NYSE at $7.02, up $0.06 or 0.86%, on a volume of about 81 thousand shares.
KNA.TO is trading on TSX at C$7.74, up C$1.29 or 20.00%, on a volume of about 3.69 million shares.
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