VANCOUVER, B.C. -- Skana Capital Corp., a Vancouver-based merchant bank, is acquiring Bus and Coach International, which produces and sells BCI Falcon motorcoaches, in a share deal with an announced value of roughly $13.3 million.

The sale appears designed to give BCI access to additional capital, as well as restructure its debt.

Under the transaction, Skana will issue roughly 51.2 million shares in exchange for 100 percent ownership of BCI, which is based in Jennings, Kan., and has sales/service outlets in Las Vegas, Orlando and Southern California.

BCI was formed earlier in this decade by brothers Phillip and David Oldridge, and a group of investors, to build and sell full-size motorcoaches.

Phillip Oldridge, a former motorcoach operator, is BCIs chief executive and president, and holds 52 percent of the outstanding stock.

GY General Holdings LLC, a Nevada investment company holds 40 percent of the shares of BCI. GY is managed by Pronaia Capital Partners, a private equity management firm founded and headed by David M. Senior and headquartered in Salt Lake City. Senior is chairman of BCI.

David Oldridge is BCIs technical guru and the man largely responsible for developing the BCI Falcon 45, the first U.S. coach to offer passenger seat belts and collision avoidance radar as standard equipment.

Following completion of the deal, BCI will get two seats on the seven-member Skana board. Phillip Oldridge and Senior have been nominated to fill seats being vacated by two Skana directors.

For Skana, the BCI deal marks a significant diversification. Previously, most of its activities focused on investing in "undervalued opportunities" in natural resource- and energy-based enterprises.

Skana said the addition of Oldridge and Senior will strengthen its board "with appropriate expertise, recognizing the diversification of its portfolio through the BCI investment."

Management of BCI remains unchanged.

The deal will increase the number of Skana shares to 103 million and give BCI a 49.5 percent stake in Skana.

On closing, BCI will have debt of not more than $21.5 million (U.S.) held by Phillip Oldridge, GY, and their associates. The deal calls for $9.5 million of the debt to be exchanged for promissory notes of SKANA, secured by inventory and work in progress. The remaining $12 million in debt is to be paid down by Skana.

Trading in Skanas shares has been halted since a few days before the deal was announced. The companys 52-week high is 85 cents and its 52-week low is 11 cents per share.