Salida Capital Launches Private Equity Fund; $100 million seed investment
committed

TORONTO, April 14 /CNW/ - Salida Capital, one of Canada's leading private alternative investment management firms, is pleased to announce the upcoming launch of its private equity fund. Focused in the natural resources space, the fund's official marketing period will begin in May and continue for a 6 to 8 month period, or until it has hit its targeted maximum capital commitment.

"We're extremely excited about the opportunities we see for our private equity fund," commented Courtenay Wolfe, President & CEO of Salida Capital. "It's an area we've been planning on venturing into for awhile, and we are pleased to announce that we have already secured a $100 million seed investment for the fund prior to its official launch."

The anchor investment comes from Bill Gallacher, President and CEO of Avenir Capital Corporation, and Chairman and founder of recently public Athabasca Oil Sands Corporation. "My relationship with Salida goes back many years. I'm a huge supporter and friend of the firm and am optimistic about the future of this relationship."

While Salida remains focused on managing funds investing mainly in publicly listed securities, Wolfe cites one key reason for launching a private equity fund as being the many opportunities the team is seeing on the private side that cannot be held in their current funds. "We manage our funds within a disciplined risk management framework that has predetermined limits on the percentage of privates that can be held in a fund," commented Ms. Wolfe. "Many of our investors have asked for a longer term time horizon for investing, wishing to access some of the great private investment opportunities we are seeing in the natural resources space."

Known for being a leader over the past several years in capitalizing on investment opportunities in the natural resources and precious metals arena, their strong nine year track record comes from taking an opportunistic, active approach to investing. Salida had strong returns in 2009 by capitalizing on the resurgence of investment opportunities within those sectors. The new private equity fund is poised to further capitalize on the proven talent of Salida's investment team.

With the foray into private equity comes a portfolio manager change for Salida's current funds. Brad White, portfolio manager and co-founder of Salida, will be joining Mr. Gallacher's asset management team. His transition to Avenir is something both groups have been working on for some time, and Ms. Wolfe feels the opportunities Brad's move will have for Salida are huge. "Brad's been instrumental in Salida's success over the past nine years, however we view this transition as a great evolution for Salida. We believe the strategic alliance we'll have with Brad and Bill going forward will benefit the firm and our investors."

Mr. White is currently the portfolio manager of two funds, the Salida Multi Strategy Fund and the Global Energy Fund. Both funds are being transitioned to two of Salida's other portfolio managers. The Multi Strategy Fund will be managed by Salida's founder and CIO, Danny Guy. Mr. Guy managed the fund for the first two years of its track record, and he and Mr. White have a very collaborative and similar investment style. Mr. Guy has continued to be the secondary manager on this fund since Mr. White took over as lead portfolio manager back in late 2006.

The Global Energy Fund will be managed by Brian Trenholm. Mr. Trenholm currently manages the Wealth Preservation Fund and has 17 years of industry experience, including four years as a sell-side energy sector analyst in Calgary. Prior to joining Salida, Mr. Trenholm managed a resource-oriented small cap fund for Maritime Life - under his management, the fund was one of Canada's top performers in 2003 with a return of more than 70%. Mr. Trenholm joined Salida in 2004 to manage the long/short Global Resource Fund, which was focused on energy and mining investments. Mr. Trenholm is also the author of Salida's regular market commentaries, "World Markets Watch" and "The Energy Report".

Ms. Wolfe says investors in these funds should be excited at the opportunity ahead: "Our current investment team is a group of six seasoned individuals, including two portfolio managers in addition to research and trading. We are soundly positioned to handle our current asset base and funds, with capacity to grow well beyond our current size. We have also recently added John Graham to our investment team, a research analyst who is focused in the mining sector, bringing over nine years of experience with him." Salida is also looking to add an oil & gas analyst to their investment team in the upcoming weeks.

Ms. Wolfe concluded by saying, "Overall we're excited about the future of Salida and feel this is a great opportunity for Brad as well as our firm. The benefits of this relationship will be tremendous."

About Salida Capital

Founded in 2001, Salida Capital is one of Canada's leading private wealth management firms. Through private funds and separately managed accounts, Salida Capital manages approximately $650 million for a growing global client base of family offices, high net worth individuals, institutions and fund of funds. The Salida Capital investment team is one of the leading precious metals and natural resources teams in Canada with an average of 17 years industry experience through multiple financial and commodity cycles. Salida Capital has been recognized globally through numerous awards and accreditations for delivering industry leading products and performance. Partner and employee personal capital represents a significant portion of assets under management. Salida Capital is the exclusive investment advisor to the Salida funds and the BTR funds. www.salidacapital.com.

Bill Gallacher

Mr. Gallacher is the President and CEO of Avenir Capital Corporation, a Western Canadian merchant banking firm investing in new and existing companies in a number of industries, including energy, with an investment focus on value and growth ventures. Mr. Gallacher has been involved with the start-up of a number of junior energy companies in Calgary and currently sits on the board of directors of Athabasca Oil Sands Corporation, as well as Maxim Power Corp., Mahalo Energy Ltd., Black Diamond Group Inc. and Avenir Diversified Income Trust.

About Athabasca Oil Sands Corp.

Athabasca Oil Sands Corp. (AOSC) was incorporated under the laws governing the Province of Alberta and is focused on the sustainable development of oil sands resources in the Athabasca region of northeastern Alberta, Canada. Please visit www.aosc.com for more information about AOSC.

Legal Disclaimer: This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any security and shall not constitute an offer, solicitation or sale of any securities and should not be considered an offering memorandum under applicable securities legislation. Past performance is no indication for future returns. Important information about these funds is contained in their applicable offering memorandum, including a detailed description of the funds' investment objectives, investment strategies and risk factors. The above information is qualified in its entirety by the applicable offering memorandum. There can be no assurance that a fund's investment objectives will be met. Investments in the funds are only available to qualified investors in Canada who purchase their investments through a registered dealer. Please contact your registered financial advisor for further information. The expected returns of the fund may be different from the actual returns.

For further information: Courtenay Wolfe, President & CEO, Salida Capital, [phone], [email protected]