Faircourt Split Five Trust Completes Initial Public Offering

On August 15, 2003, Faircourt Split Five Trust, a closed-end investment trust, completed its initial public offering of units and 6 per cent preferred securities. Including the over allotment, a total of 8,653,765 units were issued at $15 per unit and a total of 8,653,765 preferred securities were issued at $10 per preferred security for gross proceeds of $153,394,125. The offering was led by CIBC World Markets Inc., and the syndicate included BMO Nesbitt Burns Inc., RBC Dominion Securities Inc., National Bank Financial Inc., Scotia Capital Inc., TD Securities Inc., Canaccord Capital Corporation, Frist Associates Investments Inc., HSBC Securities (Canada) Inc., Raymond James Ltd., Desjardins Securities Inc. and Dundee Securities Corporation.

The net proceeds of the offering were invested in a portfolio of Canadian income trusts comprised primarily of business and industrial trusts, commodity-based royalty trusts, real estate investment trusts, and pipeline and power generation trusts.

The trust was created using a dual security structure, consisting of the units and the preferred securities, to provide investors with greater ability to choose the tax character of distributions they will receive from the underlying income trust portfolio. An investment in the units maximizes the tax deferral available for non-registered accounts, while the preferred securities offer a highly rated security with an attractive rate of interest for registered plans. The trust will invest its assets in securities of Canadian income trusts.

The manager of the trust is Faircourt Asset Management Inc. and the investment advisor to the trust is Acuity Investment Management Inc.

The trust and the manager of the trust were represented by Stikeman Elliott LLP, with a team that included Jennifer Northcote, Greg Hogan and Jill Lankin (securities/corporate) and Lianne Miller (tax). The agents were represented by McCarthy Tétrault LLP, with a team that included Ronald Schwass and Andrew Armstrong (securities/corporate) and Nigel Johnston (tax).