The deal is on
It was a long struggle, but the outcome is clear. Atlas, the holding with Seaspan as a major global containership lessor in its portfolio, has agreed with Poseidon Acquisition on the sale of its shares. Poseidon is a consortium which was formed for this purpose by certain affiliates of Fairfax Financial Holdings and the Washington Family, David Sokol, chairman of the Board of Atlas, and Ocean Network Express (ONE).
The final agreement under which Poseidon will acquire Atlas is an all-cash transaction for an enterprise value of approximately USD 10.9 billion. All outstanding common shares of Atlas not owned by Fairfax, Washington and Sokol will be bought for USD 15.50 per share in cash.
Currently, Fairfax, Washington and David Sokol own approximately more than two thirds or 68% of the outstanding common shares. The per share purchase price represents a 34% premium to Atlas’ share price as of 4 August 2022, the last trading day before Poseidon’s proposal to acquire Atlas was made public.
“We are pleased to have reached this agreement which, through the combination with Poseidon, introduces Atlas to ONE, an important corporate sponsor,” said Nicholas Pitts-Tucker, chair of the special committee of the board of Atlas.
Sokol, who helped engineer the deal: "We all look forward to continuing our relationship with our talented CEO Bing Chen and the excellent Atlas, Seaspan and APR Energy employees under his direction." (cd)