Alberta's pension fund manager is pumping more cash into the province's battered oil drillers.
Western Energy Services Corp. said on Friday that it has tapped the Alberta Investment Management Corp. for a $215-million loan, marking the third time the fund manager has supported a Calgary-based service company since oil prices collapsed.
Under the deal, AIMCo is also buying about $11.4-million in Western stock in a private placement, pushing its stake in the company to 10 per cent. It also secured 7.1 million warrants to purchase Western shares at a later date.
The investment is AIMCo's latest in an oil-field services outfit, a segment of the industry that was clobbered as major producers slashed budgets and curtailed drilling to cope with dwindling cash flows through the downturn. AIMCo manages about $90-billion in assets.
Last year, AIMCo extended a $200-million loan to Calgary-based Calfrac Well Services Ltd. That deal also included an option to purchase shares. It also provided about $220-million in financing to Savanna Energy Services Inc.
Savanna was later purchased by rival Total Energy Services Inc. in a hostile deal after a competing offer from Western collapsed. That deal triggered demands by AIMCo for repayment from Savanna of $105-million in principal plus interest under a so-called change-of-control provision.
Calgary-based Western said it would use proceeds from the latest financing to pay down debt. The company is also selling 9.1 million shares for $1.25 each on a bought-deal basis to banks led by Peters & Co. Ltd. for proceeds of roughly $11.4-million. A source said the deal was sold out.
Western shares jumped as much as 4.5 per cent early Friday on the Toronto Stock Exchange before paring gains. The stock fetched around $1.37 in midafternoon trading, up 3 per cent but well under the $9 level reached in 2014.