On October 6, 2006, RONA inc. entered into a credit agreement providing for an unsecured revolving credit facility for an initial principal amount of up to $600 million made available to it by a syndicate of lenders led by National Bank of Canada, as administrative agent. The proceeds from the facility were used to finance general corporate and working capital requirements and to repay existing debt.
On October 20, 2006, RONA inc. completed the offering of debentures in the aggregate principal amount of $400 million designated as "5.40% Debentures, due in 2016". The debentures were underwritten by a group of dealers led by Scotia Capital Inc. and RBC Dominion Securities Inc. as joint Book runners, including BMO Nesbitt Burns Inc., National Bank Financial Inc. and Desjardins Securities Inc. The proceeds from the offering were used to repay outstanding indebtedness, to expand RONA's network and operations through selected acquisitions and for general corporate purposes.
The underwriters were represented by a team from Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP composed of Robert Paré, Gilles Leclerc, Catherine Isabelle and Jean Michel Lapierre (corporate and securities), Thomas Copeland (tax) and Marc Novello (banking).