Penn West Energy Trust and Canetic Resources Trust announce Canetic Unitholder and Court approval of combination
10 January 2008 - 3:04PM
PR Newswire (US)
CALGARY, Jan. 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- (TSX - PWT.UN; NYSE -
PWE) Penn West Energy Trust ("Penn West") and (CNE.UN - TSX; CNE -
NYSE) Canetic Resources Trust ("Canetic") are pleased to announce
that the Plan of Arrangement (the "Arrangement") related to the
acquisition of Canetic by Penn West was approved today at the
Special Meeting of Canetic Unitholders with 92.1 percent of the
votes cast by Canetic Unitholders at the Special Meeting cast in
favour of the combination. The Alberta Court of Queen's Bench also
granted the Final Order required in connection with the
Arrangement. Subject to satisfaction of standard closing
conditions, the combination of Penn West and Canetic is expected to
become effective on or about January 11, 2008, pursuant to which
Canetic Unitholders will receive 0.515 of a Penn West trust unit
for each Canetic trust unit exchanged. The exchange is intended to
be completed on a tax-deferred basis for Canadian and U.S. federal
income tax purposes except for those Canetic Unitholders who are
subject to Canadian federal income tax and who have validly elected
to have the exchange completed on a taxable basis. Canetic
Unitholders of record at the close of business on January 10, 2008
will also receive a special one-time distribution of CDN $0.09 per
Canetic trust unit, as announced on January 7, 2008. The special
distribution, together with the distributions payable on the Penn
West trust units following completion of the Arrangement (assuming
no changes to the current distribution policies of Penn West), will
effectively maintain the equivalent of Canetic's pre-Arrangement
monthly cash distributions to Canetic Unitholders for six months
following completion of the Arrangement, taking into account the
trust unit exchange ratio and the pre-Arrangement monthly
distribution levels of Penn West and Canetic. The combination of
Penn West and Canetic will create the largest oil and gas energy
trust in North America with an enterprise value of approximately
$14 billion, a significant portfolio of unconventional
opportunities and a dominant position in light oil in Canada. In
addition, the new Penn West will have a diversified portfolio of
conventional oil and natural gas assets plus significant
resource-play potential in the Peace River oil sands of Northern
Alberta, CO2 enhanced oil recovery in the Pembina, Swan Hills,
Midale and Weyburn light oil pools and coalbed methane producing
assets. Penn West will be well positioned to create long-term value
for its Unitholders (including former Canetic Unitholders) through
its high-quality, long-life asset base, a strong balance sheet, and
an extensive drilling inventory, together with improved access to
equity and debt markets resulting from Penn West's increased size
and strength. Penn West trust units trade on the Toronto Stock
Exchange under the symbol PWT.UN and on the New York Stock Exchange
under the symbol PWE. Canetic trust units and debentures are listed
on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbols CNE.UN, CNE.DB.A,
CNE.DB.B, CNE.DB.C and CNE.DB.E and Canetic trust units are listed
on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol CNE.
Forward-looking Statements Certain information regarding Penn West
Energy Trust and Canetic Resources Trust including the completion,
and timing of completion, of the combination of such trusts, the
attributes of Penn West following the closing of the Canetic
combination, the nature of the combined trust's assets and
management's assessment of available development opportunities and
its ability to create long-term value for unitholders therefrom may
constitute forward-looking statements under applicable securities
law and necessarily involve risks, including, without limitation,
risks associated with oil and gas exploration, development,
exploitation, production, marketing and transportation, loss of
markets, volatility of commodity prices, currency fluctuations,
imprecision of reserve estimates, environmental risks, competition,
failure to realize the anticipated benefits of the combination,
ability to access sufficient capital from internal and external
sources; failure to obtain required regulatory approvals, changes
in legislation, including but not limited to tax laws and
environmental regulations. As a consequence, actual results may
differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking
statements. Readers are cautioned that the foregoing list of
factors is not exhaustive. Additional information on these and
other factors that could affect Penn West's and Canetic's
operations or financial results are included in reports on file
with applicable securities regulatory authorities and may be
accessed through the SEDAR website (http://www.sedar.com/), the
SEC's website (http://www.sec.gov/) or, in the case of Penn West,
at Penn West's website (http://www.pennwest.com/) and, in the case
of Canetic, at Canetic's website at (http://www.canetictrust.com/).
The forward-looking statements contained in this document speak
only as of the date of this document. Except as expressly required
by applicable securities laws, neither Penn West nor Canetic
undertakes any obligation to publicly update or revise any
forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information,
future events or otherwise. The forward-looking statements
contained in this document are expressly qualified by this
cautionary statement. DATASOURCE: Canetic Resources Trust CONTACT:
PENN WEST ENERGY TRUST, Suite 2200, 425 - First Street S.W.,
Calgary, Alberta, T2P 3L8, Phone: (403) 777-2500, Toll-free:
1-866-693-2707, Fax: (403) 777-2699, Website:
http://www.pennwest.com/; Investor Relations: Phone:
1-888-770-2633, E-mail: ; CANETIC RESOURCES TRUST, Suite 1900, 255
- 5th Avenue S.W., Calgary, Alberta, T2P 3G6, Phone: (403)
539-6300, Toll-free: 1-877-539-6300, Fax: (403) 539-6499, Website:
http://www.canetictrust.com/; Investor Relations: Phone:
1-877-539-6300, E-mail:
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