RTL-Westcan Completes Refinancing and Acquires Assets of ECL Transportation

On April 7, 2010, Edmonton-based RTL-Westcan Limited Partnership, a private portfolio investment of TriWest Capital Partners Limited Partnership No. II, successfully completed a Canada-led offering of $130 million of senior secured second lien guaranteed notes. The note offering was managed by Scotia Capital Inc. as sole book-running manager, with TD Securities Inc. and CIBC World Markets Inc. as co-managers. Concurrent with the offering, RTL-Westcan also completed a secured first lien credit facility with The Bank of Nova Scotia and ATB's Corporate Financial Services. RTL-Westcan used the net proceeds from the offering and the secured first lien credit facility to repay existing indebtedness, for working capital and to fund the acquisition of substantially all of the assets of Calgary-based ECL Transportation Ltd., which was completed concurrently with the closing of the offering and credit facility.

RTL-Westcan is a leading Canadian transport business participating in the for-hire trucking segment serving customers primarily in Alberta, British Columbia, Saskatchewan, the Yukon Territory and the Northwest Territories.

ECL was principally engaged in commodities hauling and freight services in western Canada and the Pacific Northwest US and has three core hauling competencies — fuel, propane and freight.

Founded in 1998, TriWest Capital Partners is one of Canada's leading private equity firms with more than $425 million of committed capital.

Douglas Shell, QC, Colin Lipsett, David Stratton, QC, Donald Wilson and Jonathan Cummings as well as Cynthia Levy from Davis LLP's Yellowknife office represented and advised various management investors in connection with the formation of the new limited partnership, credit facility and acquisition in addition to other banking matters.

This deal was featured in the September 2010 issue of Lexpert, under its Biggest Deal section.