MONTREAL - Shares of TransForce Inc. are expected to begin trading May 20 after unitholders of the TransForce Income Fund (TSX:TIF.UN) voted to approve a conversion to a corporate structure.
The largest Canadian trucking operator said the vote Monday was 84 per cent in favour of the change. The big trucker also said Tuesday it has arranged a $100-million loan from the Solidarity Fund QFL, with the proceeds to be used for acquisitions .
The loan, in the form of an unsecured debenture due in October 2013, is to bear interest at nine per cent.
The conversion from an income trust is intended to "increase our financial flexibility and let us pursue opportunities for acquisition that are on the horizon," as CEO Alain Bedard put it in late April while reporting $19.1 million in first-quarter earnings, off from $20.9 million a year earlier although revenue increased to $526.3 million from $464.8 million in "very difficult business conditions."
TransForce has said it intends to pursue $100 million of acquisitions this year, as smaller truck operators succumb to a slowing economy and high fuel costs.
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