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by Stockwatch Business Reporter

The TSX Venture Exchange lost 5.95 points to 494.99 Tuesday. Senator Scott Tannas has filed a final prospectus to list his second capital pool shell, The Western Investment Company of Canada Ltd. Richardson GMP Ltd. is selling the shell's $4-million initial public offering of shares at 50 cents.

Mr. Tannas, 53, listed his first capital pool shell, Hi-Alta Capital Inc., on the Alberta Stock Exchange in 1996. Later that year, the shell acquired a High River, Alta., insurance firm, Hi-Alta Agencies (1974) Ltd., for $1.34-million in cash and shares. Mr. Tannas remained a director of the resulting issuer. In 2011, the insurance and lending company, then called Western Financial Group Inc., was acquired by Desjardins Financial Corp. Inc. for $443-million. Currently, Mr. Tannas is the vice-chairman of Desjardins's Western Financial subsidiary. He holds 400,000 of Western Investment's two million escrowed shares.

Mr. Tannas's fellow Western Investment directors are Jim Dinning, Bob Espey, Bill Yuill and Rick Moore, each with 300,000 escrowed shares. Mr. Dinning, 62, was a director of Hi-Alta Capital, as well as Parkland Fuel Corp. (PKI: $22) and Shaw Communications Inc. (SJR: $24.22). Currently, he is a director of Desjardins's Western Financial, and is the chairman of Liquor Stores N.A. Ltd. (LIQ: $7.15) and Russel Metals Inc. (RUS: $15.27). Mr. Espey, 49, is the president of Parkland Fuel. Mr. Yuill, 77, was the chairman of Medicine Hat cable television provider Monarch Cablesystems Ltd., which Shaw Communications acquired in 2003 for $90-million in cash and shares. Mr. Yuill remains a director of Shaw. He is also a governor of the Western Hockey League for junior players and used to own a minor league baseball team in Medicine Hat in the 1980s. Western Investment's final director, Mr. Moore, 53, is a former investment adviser. He was a vice-president at Richardson GMP, Macquarie Private Wealth and Canaccord Financial. According to Mr. Moore, one of the shell's seed shareholders, John Prato, "will take a major role going forward as we find and finance future business acquisitions." Mr. Prato is the Consul General of Canada in New York. Previously he was a managing director at TD Securities Inc. Mr. Prato holds 400,000 escrowed shares of Western Investment.

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