Canfor takeover opposed

Photo: The Canadian Press

Softwood lumber is pictured in Richmond, B.C., Tuesday, April 25, 2017. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward

An investment management company that controls about 4.8 per cent of the shares of Canfor Corp. says it will vote against the proposal by a Jim Pattison Group company to take the lumber company private.

Letko, Brosseau & Associates Inc. charges in a news release the offer by Great Pacific Capital Corp. is "opportunistic and significantly undervalues the company."

The $16 per share bid to buy the 49 per cent of Canfor that Great Pacific doesn't already own represented an 81.8 per cent premium to the prior closing price when made in August.

But the investment manager says that premium was based on a share price that had fallen to a level not seen since 2010 and the offer is about half what the shares were fetching a year ago.

Letko, Brosseau, which manages about $26 billion in assets, says the offer values Canfor at about 4.2 times 2018 adjusted earnings, which is "unjustifiably low."

Shares in Canfor rose more than 70 per cent the day after the offer was made to close at $15.26 on the Toronto Stock Exchange. On Wednesday, they closed at $15.34.

"To protect the value of our investment, we intend to vote against the proposed going private transaction," the release states.