12:58 PM EST - Arriscraft International Income Fund : reports that it is selling its business making brick, manufactured stone and masonry products to General Shale Brick Inc. for an aggregate price of $107 million. The deal announced Monday is expected to result in proceeds of $7.50 per unit to Arriscraft investors, down from the $10 issue price 2½ years ago. The units had closed Friday at $6.65 on the TSX, with a 52-week range between $7.50 and $4.05. The unit price was $6.35 before the trust, headquartered in Cambridge, Ont., announced May 7 it was in discussions on a possible sale of the business. Arriscraft units rose 11 per cent to $7.36 Monday morning on the TSX, indicating no bidding war is expected over the trust. General Shale, based in Tennessee, is an affiliate of Wienerberger AG, the largest brickmaker in the world, headquartered in Vienna, Austria. The transaction price includes $32 million of debt owed by Arriscraft, which in its latest quarter lost $755,000 as sales declined seven per cent from a year earlier to $16.2 million. Arriscraft units were issued in December 2004 and peaked at just over $12 in early 2005, then sank like a stone below $4 in late July 2005 after the trust suspended distributions amid an inventory buildup. Distributions resumed last August at about one-third the previous level. Arriscraft International Income Fund
units AIN.UN:CA are trading up seventy five cents at $7.40.
