Avion Group Acquires Atlas Cold Storage Income Trust for $580M

On November 3, 2006, Avion Group hf, an Iceland-based investment company specializing in air, land and sea transportation solutions worldwide, completed the acquisition of Atlas Cold Storage Income Trust for $580 million. The offer was initiated as an unsolicited takeover bid but ultimately received the support of the Atlas Board and its principal unitholders. The offer was conducted by Avion and its wholly owned subsidiary, Eimskip Atlas Canada, Inc., together with King Street Real Estate Growth LP No. 2, which provided structured real estate secured financing to the transaction. The acquisition was financed by a syndicate of senior lenders led by Royal Bank of Canada and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce and by subordinated debt provided by King Street, SITQ and Avion.

King Street and Eimskip Atlas Canada, Inc. were represented by Bennett Jones LLP with a team including Paul Mantini, Simon Crawford, Peter Birkness, Adrienne Moore, Emily Atkinson and Helgi Maki (commercial), Stephen Bowman and Tom Bauer (tax), and Alan Bell, Brent Kraus, Jane Brindle and Harinder Basra (M&A).

Avion Group hf was represented by Goodmans LLP with a team including Stephen Halperin, Justin Beber, Chantal Thibault and Simon McGrath (M&A); Mark Surchin and Elisabeth Cleghorn (banking); Maureen Berry (tax); Tom Friedland (litigation); Joel Schachter (Investment Canada) and Richard Annan (competition). Anthony Swisher of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP acted on US regulatory/antitrust matters.

Atlas was represented by McCarthy Tétrault LLP with a team including Blair Cowper-Smith, Garth Girvan, Jonathan Grant, Frank DeLuca and Lara Nathans (M&A). Atlas's board of trustees was represented by Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP with a team including Clay Horner, John Macfarlane and Julie Walsh.

The senior lenders were represented in Canada by Ogilvy Renault LLP with a team including Andrew Welsh, Norman Lieff and James Padwick and in the US by Shearman & Sterling LLP with a team including Michael Baker and Randal Palach. SITQ was represented by Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP with a Montreal-based team that included Sylvain Cossette, Neil Kravitz and Alain Roberge.