Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan to acquire SeaCube Container for $467 mn

Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, Canada's largest pension funds, yesterday agreed to acquire SeaCube Container Leasing Ltd, one of the world's largest container leasing companies, for about $467 million.

Under the terms of the deal, which is being led by Ontario Teachers' Long-Term Equities group, Ontario Teachers' will pay $23 in cash, a 13.3 per cent premium to SeaCube's closing price on 18 January 2013 and a 130 per cent premium over the company' initial public offering price in October 2010.

The transaction has been unanimously approved by the board of directors of SeaCube, and is expected to close in the first half of 2013 subject to approvals from foreign, US and shareholders of SeaCube.

Based in Park Ridge, New Jersey, SeaCube is one of the world's largest container leasing companies based on total assets.

SeaCube's business include the acquisition, leasing, re-leasing and subsequent sale of refrigerated and dry containers and generator sets. SeaCube leases containers under long-term contracts to a diverse group of the world's leading shipping lines, including APL, CMA-CGM, CSAV, Hanjin, MSC and Maersk Line.

It also leases the diesel-fueled generators called gensets that power reefers being transported by truck. SeaCube operates over 520,000 containers and gensets, representing nearly 820,000 twenty-foot equivalent units.