January 13, 2014 - 8:27 AM
MONTREAL - The Caisse de depot and Bain Capital Luxembourg Investments are further reducing their stakes in sports recreational vehicle manufacturer BRP Inc. for the second time in three months.
The investors said Monday that together they would sell 8.7 million shares at $30 per share to underwriters for $261 million in gross proceeds.
Bain Caital will receive $219.3 million from the sale, while the remainder will go to the Caisse.
BRP, formerly known as Bombardier Recreational Products, does not get any money from the transaction, which is expected to close around the end of January.
Under the agreement, Boston-based Bain will reduce its ownership stake to 27.8 per cent from 34 per cent. The Caisse, Quebec's largest pension fund manager, will reduce its position to 5.3 per cent from 6.5 per cent.
Underwriters BMO Capital Markets and RBC Capital Markets plan to sell the shares through a secondary offering in Canada and private placement in the United States.
In October, Bain, the Caisse and other shareholders announced an agreement to sell eight million shares of BRP at $27.85 each for $223 million in gross proceeds.
BRP (TSX:DOO) received $262 million in an initial public offering last May after selling shares at $21.50 per share.
Both the Caisse and Bain Capital have been invested in BRP for more than a decade.
The Quebec-based maker of snowmobiles, personal watercraft and all-terrain vehicles was spun off from Bombardier Inc. (TSX:BBD.B) in 2003 when it was sold to members of the Bombardier and Beaudoin families, Bain Capital and the Caisse for $960 million.
Prior to the IPO, a subsidiary of Bain owned half the company, the Beaudier group had a 35 per cent stake and the Caisse a 15 per cent holding.
Beaudier Inc. is a family-owned company controlled by Laurent Beaudoin, a former CEO of Bombardier Inc. and a son-in-law of Joseph-Armand Bombardier, the Quebec inventor who founded the company.
Based in Valcourt, Que., BRP has approximately 6,800 employees around the world.
On the Toronto Stock Exchange, BRP shares lost 59 cents, or 1.92 per cent, at $30.06 in Monday morning trading.
News from © The Canadian Press, 2014