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On the evening of August 1, 1995, members of Scotia Capital Markets'' Mergers and Acquisitions team sat back in their chairs to rework their reorganization strategy for Norcen Energy Resources Limited (Norcen). On September 1, 1994, Grant Billing, who had just come from a successful reorganization of Sceptre Resources, became the new president and chief executive officer (CEO) of Norcen. Billing''s mandate at Norcen was to perform a similar strategic reorganization, with particular emphasis on core businesses and on the reduction of Norcen''s heavy debt level of $1.5 billion (December 31, 1994). To accomplish this, Billing had decided to divest Norcen of Labrador Mining and Exploration Company Limited. Scotia Capital Markets had suggested various divestiture alternatives, but the five alternatives under consideration were a private sale to a strategic buyer, a private sale to a financial buyer, a traditional public offering, a public offering of a royalty trust and a public offering of a yet untested instrument called an income fund.