Over The Counter (August 01, 2003)

Dana Board Rebuffs ArvinMeritor Takeover Offer

Dana Corporation has recommended that shareholders reject the unsolicited takeover offer from ArvinMeritor, calling it an inadequate, high risk proposal.

In early June, ArvinMeritor offered Dana shareholders $15.00 a share, a premium of 56% over the trading price of Dana stock at the time, 39% over the average trading price, and a premium of 25% over the trading price July 7. The offer, for cash, was rejected by the Dana board of directors “after a thorough review and consultation with its legal and financial advisors.”

The proposed transaction has a total equity value of approximately $2.2 billion assuming 148.6 million shares of Dana outstanding.

While categorized as a hostile takeover, things turned particularly nasty almost immediately, when ArvinMeritor filed a lawsuit against Dana and its board of directors, asserting, among other things, that Dana’s board breached its fiduciary duties to Dana’s shareowners when it rejected ArvinMeritor’s initial proposals without meeting with them.

Shad’s Grand Prize Winners Announced

The Shad’s R&R charity drive capped off its 2003 campaign with the awarding of its grand prize trip for two to the Dominican Republic.

The winners of the trip–drawn from tickets purchased–were John MacInnis, a service provider in Goderich, Ont., and wife Evelyn, a delivery driver for Ideal Supply, a Napa associate that supplies MacInnis’ business.

The presentation was made to the couple by Matthew Scott Data Marketing Solutions Inc. which provided the trip.

The Shad’s R&R charity golf tournament and fundraiser brought in $150,000 this past June, raising the cumulative total for the automotive aftermarket cause to $3 million.

All funds raised by the event are forwarded to the Muscular Dystrophy Association of Canada. In doing so, it has become the cause’s second-largest single fundraising event, behind the MD telethon popularly hosted by comedian Jerry Lewis for so many years, and the largest single third-party event in Canada. The event has been held annually since 1974.

Federal-Mogul Canada Unwraps New Facility

Federal-Mogul held a grand opening for its new Canadian headquarters, revealing a sophisticated, lean distribution approach.

Housing administrative offices, a call centre, and 75,000 square feet of inventory, the facility is a far cry from the 250,000 square feet it housed previously. That facility, now inhabited by Canadian Tire’s automotive business, was deemed redundant when Federal-Mogul embarked on a new profile for its business.

“Cross-docking is common,” says Cal Garraway, an employee of the facility. The facility handles some 200 pallets a day in this method, all possible due to a streamlining of inventory– “only 60,000 part numbers are warehoused here”–and of inventory control systems.

“We used to have 14 different systems. Now we’re down to two. We’ll get down to one within three to five years,” says Garraway. Plus, he says, the entire facility is to be ISO certified this fall.

Auto Sense New Facility Shows View For Growth

Auto Sense’s new distribution centre in Barrie, Ont. held its official opening in late June, showing a strong view to the future and growth.

The facility, which replaced a distribution centre in Mississauga, Ont., allows for future expansion and shows some innovative designs that both improve work conditions and ready the buying group for future expansion.

Currently, the 90,000-square-foot location is located on 10 acres of land. Approximately 80,000 square feet are dedicated to warehousing, with the remainder housing some 50 administrative staff.

Appointments

Gary O’Connor has been appointed to head up all customer facing responsibilities at Dana Automotive Aftermarket Group Canada. The announcement was made by John R. Washbish, president, CRM, Dana Automotive Aftermarket Group (DAAG). In his new position as vice-president, CRM, DAAG Canada, O’Connor will assume all customer facing responsibilities including sales, marketing, and administrative support for all DAAG Canadian business.

Uni-Select has announced that Pierre Theriault has returned to the distribution network as the Midas sales account manager. Theriault is returning to Uni-Select where he previously worked in the marketing department for approximately 12 years. He brings with him an excellent knowledge of the distribution market and his professional expertise will support the integration and the development of the newly acquired Midas account. Theriault will report to Michel Charbonneau, vice-president sales & marketing.