991038 Maple Leaf Completes Purchase of Landmark GroupOctober 16, 1999Toronto - Canada Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Maple Leaf Foods Inc. announced that approximately 21.2 million Class A common shares (representing approximately 94.4% of the issued and outstanding Class A common shares) and 187,500 Class B common shares (representing 100% of the Class B common shares) of The Landmark Group Inc. (the “Landmark Group”) have been deposited under the previously announced offers by Canada Inc., to acquire all of the Class A common shares and Class B common shares of the Landmark Group at $1.25 per share. The offers, which were subject to certain conditions, expired at 4:00 p.m. (Toronto time) on October 13, 1999, at which time all of the terms and conditions of each of the offers had been complied with or waived. Canada Inc. is taking up all of the shares validly deposited under the offers to date. Other shareholders of Class A shares have indicated their intention to deposit a further 1.0 million shares to the bid and are in the process of finalizing the required documentation. When taken together with the 61,621,056 Class C common shares which Maple Leaf Foods will acquire indirectly by acquiring all the outstanding shares of Landmark Western Holdings Ltd., of The Landmark Group Inc., the sole shareholder of the Class C common shares, which will close tomorrow, Maple Leaf Foods will own through wholly owned subsidiaries approximately 99.75% of the outstanding shares. As part of the transaction, shareholders of Landmark Western Holdings Ltd. have elected to take 571,500 shares of Maple Leaf Foods as partial consideration for their shares. In order to permit remaining shareholders of Class A common shares to tender, the offer for the Class A common shares (the “Class A Offer”) is being extended and will remain open for acceptance until 4:00 p.m. (Toronto time) on October 28, 1999, unless withdrawn or extended. As more than 90% of the Class A Common shares of the Landmark Group have been deposited under the offers, upon the expiry of the Class A Offer, 3585557 intends to exercise its right to compulsorily acquire the remaining issued and outstanding Class A common shares of the Landmark Group in accordance with the provisions of applicable law. Maple Leaf Foods is a leading Canadian food processor. Headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, the company employs more than 12,000 people at its operations across Canada, and in the United States, Europe, and Asia. The Landmark Group Inc. has been involved in various aspects of animal agriculture in Western Canada for more than 40 years. The group includes Landmark Feeds Inc., a leading manufacturer and provider of feed for all species of livestock and Elite Swine Inc. a hog marketing, feed and genetics provider to pork producers in the region.
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