Park Lawn Corp. acquires Signature Group, completes bought deal offering

Park Lawn Corp. (TSX: PLC) (PLC) acquired all the outstanding membership interests of Signature Funeral and Cemetery Investments, LLC (Signature, or Signature Group) for a purchase price of approximately US$123 million in cash. 

The acquisition adds nine cemeteries, 21 funeral homes (including seven located on cemetery sites) and five crematoria in four new states, Kansas, Missouri, New Mexico and Mississippi, and in Texas to PLC’s portfolio. 

Signature Group’s Brad Green and Jay Dodds have taken on senior leadership positions within PLC as President and Chief Operating Officer respectively, with a particular focus on integrating US operations into a centralized platform. 

The acquisition was funded using proceeds from PLC’s bought deal offering of subscription receipts, which closed on May 4, 2018. The syndicate of underwriters was co-led by National Bank Financial Inc., CIBC Capital Markets and Cormark Securities Inc. and included Acumen Capital Finance Partners Limited, BMO Nesbitt Burns Inc., Raymond James Ltd., TD Securities Inc., Canaccord Genuity Corp., Clarus Securities Inc., GMP Securities L.P. and Paradigm Capital Inc. A total of 7,745,250 subscription receipts (including subscription receipts issued pursuant to the exercise in full of the over-allotment option granted by PLC to the Underwriters) were issued at a price of $24.50 per subscription receipt for total gross proceeds of $189,758,625. 

PLC provides goods and services associated with the disposition and memorialization of human remains. Products and services are sold on a pre-planned basis (pre-need) or at the time of a death (at-need). PLC and its subsidiaries own and operate 139 businesses including cemeteries, crematoria, funeral homes, chapels, planning offices and a transfer service. PLC operates in five Canadian provinces and ten US states. 

Goodmans LLP represented PLC in Canada with a team led by Brad Ross that included David Coll-Black, Matt Rossetti and Laura Magisano (corporate/M&A) and Michael Royal (tax). 

Dykema represented PLC in the United States with a team that included D. Richard McDonald, Jeanne Whalen and Aayushi Patel (corporate/M&A) and Howard Iwrey (antitrust).  

Signature Group was represented by Jones Day with a team that included Jeff Dinerstein (now of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP) and Alixandra Charles (corporate/M&A); and by Burns & Levinson LLP with a team that included Josef Volman and Chad Porter (corporate/M&A). 

McMillan LLP represented the Underwriters with a team led by Georges Dubé, and included Jeffrey Gebert and Laura Fraser (corporate/securities) and Andrew Stirling (tax).