FirstService Plans To Split Into Two

(RTTNews) - FirstService Corp. (FSV.TO, FSRV) said Tuesday that its Board of Directors has approved, in principle, a plan to separate FirstService into two independent publicly-traded companies -- "Colliers International" and "FirstService Corp."

After the separation, FirstService Corp. will be comprised of the current FirstService Residential and FirstService Brands divisions.

The proposed transaction will be implemented through a court-approved Plan of Arrangement and is subject to final approval from FirstService's Board of Directors. FirstService expects that the arrangement, when completed, will result in the establishment of a new public company that will be named FirstService Corp. and the current publicly traded company called FirstService will change its name to Colliers International Group, Inc.

The intention is for both the subordinate voting shares of Colliers International and FirstService Corp. to be listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange and the NASDAQ Stock Market, consistent with the current dual listing of FirstService's subordinated voting shares.

The arrangement will also be subject to regulatory, court and shareholder approvals. The plan is expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2015.

Separately, FirstService reported net income for the fourth quarter of US$17.0 million or US$0.46 per share, compared to US$1.2 million or US$0.03 per share for the year-ago quarter.

Excluding items, adjusted earnings per share for the fourth quarter were US$1.16, compared to US$0.96 per share in the prior year quarter.

Revenues for the fourth quarter rose 22% to US$823.83 million from US$691.86 million a year earlier.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to earn US$1.01 per share on revenue of US$777.56 million for the fourth quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.