ATS board won’t block private takeover

TORONTO — ATS Andlauer Income Fund’s board of trustees has backtracked from its opposition to a takeover bid by the trucking carrier’s management group.

The $79 million offer was previously rejected by the board, but unitholders later admitted that’s likely the best they’re going to get, according to the Canadian Press.

The management group, led by founder Michael Andlauer, intends to acquire the 70 percent of ATS units it does not currently own.

ATS — a specialized electronics and pharmaceutical carrier in Etobicoke, Ont. — is the latest publicly-traded trucking company to shed its income trust status since the federal Conservatives announced in October 2006 that starting in 2011, income trusts will be taxed more like corporations.

"The AMG offer states that AMG intends to pursue a compulsory acquisition of units not tendered, but the timing of any such transaction will be at AMG’s discretion, and unitholders who would prefer to sell their units into the offer, and be paid within 10 days of its expiry on Nov. 25, should tender now and not wait to be paid the same amount at a later date in a compulsory acquisition transaction," the fund said in its announcement.

Last week, the fund reported an increase in third-quarter profit compared with a year ago, but warned that the next several months could be sluggish if economic conditions don’t improve.