Kingspan Group PLC acquires Vicwest for US$350 million and immediately sells Vicwest’s Westeel Division for US$221.5 million to AG Growth International

On May 20, 2015, Kingspan Group, through an acquisition company, completed by way of a plan of arrangement, a series of complex transactions involving the acquisition of Oakville, Ontario-based Vicwest Inc., a manufacturer and distributor of engineered storage and handling systems for grain, fertilizer and liquid storage as well as building construction products for agriculture, commercial, industrial and residential markets, for $350 million. Kingspan, a global manufacturer and seller of building products, including insulated metal panels and other building envelope products, insulation boards and raised access floors, agreed to sell, as part of the plan of arrangement, Vicwest’s Westeel Division—an agriculture products manufacturer—to grain handling, conditioning and storage equipment manufacturer Ag Growth International Inc. for $221.5 million. Kingspan retained the Vicwest’s Building Products division. To address competition concerns, Kingspan entered into a Consent Agreement with Canada’s Competition Bureau under which Kingspan is required to sell Vicwest’s manufacturing facility in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Kingspan was advised by Fasken Martineau with a team led by Michael Boehm, and including Virginia Schweitzer, Robert Chapman and Julia Kennedy (M&A, securities and corporate), Leslie Milton (competition), Christopher Steeves (tax), Rosalind Cooper (environmental), Brad Moore and Murray Braithwaite (litigation), Claire Vachon and Clayton Jones (labour and employment), Ross Gascho (pensions) and Paul King (real estate).