The Coxe Commodity Strategy Fund today completed its previously announced initial public offering of 25 million class A combined units and 1 million class F combined units at a price of $10 per combined unit for gross proceeds of $260 million.

If the over-allotment option granted to the agents is exercised within the next 30 days then the total proceeds from the offering will equal $297.5 million.

The focus of the fund is to provide retail and institutional investors with long-term capital growth by executing the commodity investment strategies of Donald Coxe.

Coxe, BMO’s global portfolio strategist, is well known for his unique and insightful analysis of global trends and themes that are driving the global economy. He will act as the fund’s portfolio consultant allowing investors the first opportunity to gain direct exposure his well-publicized views on the commodity super cycle.

Harris Investment Management, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of BMO, is the investment manager and will be responsible for implementing the fund’s investment strategy.

“The continued strong demand for commodities can be expected to be driven by the needs of a growing middle class in emerging nations, as they acquire dwellings with both basic and modern amenities and automobiles, and consume a higher protein diet,” says Coxe.

The net proceeds of the offering will be invested in an actively managed portfolio consisting primarily of equity securities. The fund will provide exposures to commodity-related securities with the approximate target weightings established for the fund by Coxe in the agriculture, base metals, steel, energy, and precious metals sectors. The portfolio is expected to be well diversified within these sectors and to consist primarily of exchange-traded equities, but may contain debt securities, cash and/or cash equivalents.

The class A combined units are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol COX.A. The class A combined units will separate into class A units and class A warrants on the earlier of the closing of the over-allotment option and 30 days post closing. After separating, the class A units and class A warrants will trade under the symbols COX.UN and COX.WT, respectively.

The units were offered for sale by a syndicate of agents led by BMO Capital Markets and included National Bank Financial Inc., Scotia Capital Inc., TD Securities Inc., Berkshire Securities Inc., Blackmont Capital Inc., Canaccord Capital Corp., Dundee Securities Corp., HSBC Securities (Canada) Inc., Raymond James Ltd., Richardson Partners Financial Limited and Wellington West Capital Inc.