Quebecor World Inc. is reviewing the terms of an unsolicited acquisition bid made by R.R. Donnelley & Sons. According to a statement from the Canadian printing firm, its board will be discussing the proposed transaction with its financial and legal advisors, as well as its major stakeholders.
In the meantime, the company will proceed with hearings on May 14 and May 15 in Canadian and U.S bankruptcy courts, respectively.
In announcing its bid, R.R. Donnelley said its bid offered Quebecor’s debtors better terms than the proposed bankruptcy reorganization proposal.
The current proposal, according to a letter Donnelley sent to Quebecor, followed a similar request Donnelley made last August. Quebecor did not respond to the Donnelley request, according to the Donnelley letter.
Under the current terms, Donnelley would pay Quebecor debtors:
$700 million U.S. dollars;
The $257 million in cash currently on Quebecor’s balance sheets; and
30 million shares of RR Donnelley stock, which represents approximately 15% of the total outstanding shares of Donnelley and has a market value of $394.2 million, based on Donnelley’s market capitalization of $2.7 billion
Donnelley said it had sufficient funds to pay to cash portion under its current cash-on-hand and financing arrangements, and would not need additional financing. Donnelley also noted that, on its end, it would only need the approval of its board and not of its shareholders.
