Edmonton, Alberta - Commercial Solutions, Inc., a major Canadian distributor of bearings, power transmission equipment, oilfield, industrial, and safety products, announced the engagement of Sequeira Partners Inc. ("Sequeira") as financial advisor of the Board of Directors to review strategic alternatives for the Company.
The Board of Directors undertook a thorough review of the company's current share price, assets and operations and concluded that the common shares of Commercial trade at a substantial discount to the inherent value of the business and underlying assets of the company. The objective of the strategic review is to examine a number of alternatives including, but not limited to, joint ventures, strategic partnerships, mergers, acquisitions, and the sale of the company or other corporate transactions to enhance shareholder value. This process would include seeking proposals from potential buyers. The company has not set a definitive schedule to complete its strategic review and there can be no assurance that any transaction will result.
On December 4, 2012, the company had announced a signed Letter of Intent ("LOI") to be acquired by Industrial Distribution Group ("IDG"). Subsequently, the company announced on January 24, 2013 that the Board of Directors of IDG had determined to withdraw IDG's proposal to acquire the company. The terms set forth in the LOI with IDG included a break-fee in cash equal to $1,300,000 which would be due and payable upon demand by IDG in the event the company receives an offer or proposal from any party other than IDG with respect to an alternative transaction at any time prior to September 30, 2013, and thereafter consummates an alternative transaction on the terms of such offer or proposal or on amended terms. Commercial is pleased to announce that the break-fee conditions have been renegotiated with IDG whereby the break-fee amount has been reduced by two-thirds to a total of $435,000. This allows the company to consummate possible offers or proposals over this period at a reduced cost. The term of this agreement has been extended to March 31, 2014.
About Commercial
Headquartered in Edmonton, Alberta, Commercial is one of Canada's major independent industrial distributors with 23 Services Centres and approximately 265 employees located primarily in Western Canada. Commercial offers more than 160,000 items critical to maintenance repair and operations (MRO) and original equipment manufacturer (OEM) customers. The company represents 450 leading manufacturers and serves over 11,000 customer accounts within a broad cross-section of industries, including oil and gas, forestry, agriculture, firefighting, food processing, chemical processing, mining, utilities, manufacturing, and construction. Commercial trades under the symbol "CSA" on the Toronto Stock Exchange. For further information on the Company, please visit www.commercialsolutions.ca and for detailed financial information visit www.sedar.com.
