Toronto, Ontario – February 27, 2006: Aecon Group Inc. (“Aecon”) (TSX:ARE) announced today that it has entered into an agreement to issue 4,500,000 common shares on a bought deal basis to a syndicate of underwriters led by National Bank Financial Inc. and GMP Securities L.P. and including Paradigm Capital Inc. and Raymond James Ltd. The common shares will be publicly offered in Canada under a short-form prospectus at a price of $6.25 per share, representing gross proceeds of $28,125,000.
The underwriters were also granted an Over-Allotment Option to purchase an additional 15% of the Offering at any time until 30 days after Closing at a price of $6.25 per share for total gross proceeds including the Over-Allotment Option of up to $32,343,750.
Closing is expected to occur on or about March 17, 2006 subject to TSX and other regulatory approvals. Aecon currently has 31,180,632 common shares issued and outstanding.
The net proceeds of the Offering will be used to fund the incremental working capital required to take advantage of the strong market conditions existing in Aecon's Industrial and Civil & Utilities divisions, to fund Aecon's investment in the Quito Airport concession, to secure meaningful additional surety capacity, and for general corporate and working capital purposes.
The shares will be issued under a short form prospectus in the provinces of Ontario, Quebec, British Columbia, Alberta and Manitoba. The securities offered have not been registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption from the registration requirements. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy nor shall there be any sale of the securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful.
Aecon Group Inc. is Canada's largest publicly traded construction and infrastructure development company. Aecon and its subsidiaries provide services to private and public sector clients throughout Canada and internationally. The Company's shares are listed for trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol ARE.