Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan Board's Merchant Banking Group (MBG), looked through an information memorandum on ATS Inc. (ATS). The senior management of ATS were interested in acquiring certain non-core assets of its parent company, Aer Lingus plc, of Dublin, Ireland. Aer Lingus made its investment in ATS following a policy of diversification from its inherently cyclical core business of air transportation. However, the board of directors of Aer Lingus had recently determined that Aer Lingus should focus primarily on its core European businesses. Consequently, Aer Lingus had agreed to sell its shares of ATS to the management and employees of ATS pursuant to a binding letter of intent being executed. The focus of the case is whether the MBG should participate in the deal and if so, on what terms. (A Microsoft Excel spreadsheet is available for use with this case, product 7B00N001.)
