Precision Trust conversion documentation being mailed
05 Oktober 2005 - 1:54AM
PR Newswire (US)
CALGARY, Oct. 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Precision Drilling
Corporation ("Precision") announced today the mailing to
securityholders of the Notice of Special Meeting of Securityholders
and Information Circular with respect to the Plan of Arrangement
for the reorganization of Precision into Precision Drilling Trust
(the "Trust"). Copies of this documentation have been submitted for
posting on SEDAR (http://www.sedar.com/). The special meeting to
consider the conversion is scheduled to take place on October 31,
2005 at 10:00 a.m. (Calgary time) at the Metropolitan Conference
Centre, Royal Room, 333 - 4th Avenue S.W., Calgary, Alberta.
Pursuant to the reorganization, shareholders will be entitled to
receive in exchange for each common share held (i) one unit of the
Trust ("Trust Units"); (ii) their pro-rata share of the 26 million
common shares of Weatherford International Ltd. owned by Precision
("Weatherford Shares"); and (iii) their pro-rata share of up to
$850 million of cash in aggregate. The Weatherford Shares will not
be subject to any resale restrictions, however, Precision will not
be able to complete the reorganization or transfer the Weatherford
Shares until a Registration Statement to be filed by Weatherford is
declared effective by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
The Trust will own Precision's existing business and will make
regular monthly distributions to holders of the Trust Units. Based
on current business conditions, it is anticipated that the board of
Trustees of the Trust will set the initial regular distributions to
the Trust's unitholders at approximately $0.24 per Trust Unit per
month with the first such payment expected to be made in the month
following the effective date of the reorganization. The actual
amount distributed will be dependent on various economic factors
and is at the discretion of the Board of Trustees. The anticipated
distribution policy targets the use of approximately 70% of
available cash for distribution to Trust Unitholders. Based upon
current economic factors and the size of the Trust's capital
budget, it is expected that the remaining approximately 30% of cash
available for distribution will fund the Trust's annual capital
expenditure program. Certain statements contained in this press
release may contain words such as "anticipate", "could", "should",
"expect", "believe", "will" and similar expressions and statements
relating to matters that are not historical facts. These statements
are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A
of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Act
of 1934. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown
risks and uncertainties which may cause the actual results,
performance or achievements of the entities discussed in this Press
Release to be materially different from any future results,
performances or achievements expressed or implied by such
forward-looking statements. Such factors include fluctuations in
the market for oil and gas and related products and services;
competition; the demand for services provided by Precision; changes
in laws and regulations, including environmental and tax laws and
regulations, to which Precision is subject and other factors, which
are described in further detail in Precision's filings with the US
Securities and Exchange Commission. Precision is listed on the
Toronto Stock Exchange under the trading symbols "PD" and "PD.U"
and on the New York Stock Exchange under the trading symbol "PDS".
DATASOURCE: Precision Drilling Corporation CONTACT: Mr. Robert T.
German, Vice President and Chief Accounting Officer, 4200, 150 -
6th Avenue S.W., Calgary, Alberta, T2P 3Y7, Telephone: (403)
716-4500, Fax: (403) 264-0251, Website:
http://www.precisiondrilling.com/; To request a free copy of this
organization's annual report, please go to http://www.newswire.ca/
and click on reports@cnw.
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