The Boyd Group has closed on an upsized US$897-million American IPO tied to its proposed purchase of 258 Joe Hudson’s Collision centres located south of the border.

Winnipeg-based Boyd plans to use the proceeds to help cover the US$1.3-billion cost of acquiring the Joe’s Collision outlets, which are spread across 18 states in the U.S. Southeast. If all goes according to plan, Boyd will acquire the properties through the purchase of the entire Joe’s Collision business.

Boyd had originally sought to raise US$780 million. Underwriters fully exercised their right to purchase an over-allotment, with the additional shares priced at US$141 apiece. Altogether, the company issued 6,361,800 common shares, including an additional 829,800 shares tied to the over-allotment.

Boyd is funding the acquisition through a combination of drawings on the company’s evolving credit facilities, proceeds from a concurrently US$780-million bought-deal IPO in the U.S. and new Canadian private-placement offering of unsecured senior notes priced at $525 million.

The Joe Hudson’s chain has added 123 locations since 2020.

If all goes according to plan, the acquisition will expand Boyd’s location total to 1,273.

Photo: Joe Hudson’s