Thomas H. Lee Partners Completes Cott Shares Offering

Boston-based Thomas H. Lee Partners, LP and related parties completed a secondary offering of common shares of Cott Corp. The deal closed on Decumber 17, 2003. The offering consisted of 7.5 million common shares, representing aggregate gross proceeds to Thomas Lee of US$189.375 million. The secondary offering, completed on a bought deal basis, was offered through an underwriting syndicate, which included BMO Nesbitt Burns Inc. and CIBC World Markets Inc. A portion of the offering was sold pursuant to a private placement in the US through Harris Nesbitt Corp.

The Thomas Lee group was represented in Canada by Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP, with a team that included William Ainley, Shawn McReynolds and Darren Wasylucha; and in the US by Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP in Boston, with a team that included Jim Westra and David Kreisler.

Cott was represented in-house by Mark Halperin, senior vice-president, general counsel and secretary; in Canada by Goodmans LLP, with a team that included Stephen Halperin, Neil Sheehy, Mark Spiro and Simon McGrath; and in the US by Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP in Philadelphia, with a team that included H. John Michel, Jr., Diana McCarthy and Douglas Raymond.

The underwriters were represented in Canada by McCarthy Tétrault LLP, with a team that included Christopher Hoffmann, Jonathan Grant, Robert Hansen and Aimée Downey; and in the US by White & Case LLP in New York, with a team that included Kevin Keogh, Martin Glass and Jason Ng.