Pengrowth to buy Exxon oil properties

Pengrowth Energy Trust announced it is paying $475-million for oil properties from Exxon Mobil Corp.'s Canadian arm. The trust is paying more than $90,000 for each of the 5,100 barrels of daily production it is acquiring, most of which is oil. The trust plans to dilute the stock of current unitholders by more than 10 per cent to fund the purchase, selling 17.7-million new units at $22.60 apiece in a bought deal for $400-million to a syndicate of underwriters led by Royal Bank of Canada. The deals were announced after the market closed yesterday. PGF.UN (TSX) rose 34 cents to $23.69.