Somerset Entertainment Income Fund Completes IPO

On March 18, 2005, Somerset Entertainment Income Fund completed its initial public offering of 9,600,000 trust units for gross proceeds of $96 million. Somerset Entertainment used the proceeds of the IPO to acquire an indirect 75 per cent interest in Somerset Entertainment Holdings Inc. Somerset Entertainment is a North American producer and distributor of specialty music sold through non-traditional retailers using interactive displays.

The underwriting syndicate for the offering was co-led by BMO Nesbitt Burns Inc. and RBC Dominion Securities Inc., and included CIBC World Markets Inc., TD Securities Inc., First Associates Investments Inc. and Raymond James Ltd.

Somerset Entertainment was represented by Goodmans LLP with a team led by Tim Heeney that included Michael Partridge, Brian Wise and John Connon (corporate), Carrie Smit and Sam Tyler (tax) and Jeffrey Citron, Susan Zimmerman and Lisa Mantello (banking); and by Goodwin Procter LLP as US counsel with a team that included Laura Hodges Taylor and Jim Kelly (corporate), Mark Kirshenbaum and Tim Becker (tax), and Edward Matson Sibble Jr. (leveraged finance).
The underwriters were represented by Stikeman Elliott LLP with a team that included Jeff Singer, David Weinberger and Mark Katz (corporate) and John Lorito (tax).

Concurrent with the IPO, Somerset Entertainment entered into new credit facilities with the Toronto-Dominion Bank. The bank was represented by Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP with a team led by Jon Holmstrom (banking & finance) and including Kathleen Hanly (tax), Sean Stevens (corporate), David Johnson (banking & finance) and Krisztian Toth (corporate); and in the US by Victoria Gilbert (banking) of Kaye Scholer LLP.