RON.PR.A, RON.PR.B Guaranteed By Lowes, Reducing Reporting Requirements

Lowe’s Companies, Inc. has announced (although not yet on their website):

RONA inc. (TSX:RON.PR.A)(TSX:RON.PR.B) (“RONA”) today announced that Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (“Lowe’s”) has provided guarantees of the obligations of RONA under RONA’s outstanding Cumulative 5-Year Rate Reset Series 6 Class A Preferred Shares and Cumulative Floating Rate Series 7 Class A Preferred Shares as well as RONA’s 5.40% debentures due October 20, 2016.

The full text of the guarantees have been filed with the Canadian securities regulators and are available on RONA’s profile at www.sedar.com. As a result and in accordance with applicable securities laws and exemptions therefrom, RONA will satisfy its continuous disclosure requirements and other related reporting requirements going forward by filing copies of all disclosure and financial reporting documents Lowe’s is required to file with the Securities and Exchange Commission under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as well as certain prescribed summary financial information for RONA, on RONA’s profile at www.sedar.com, and it will no longer be required to file full quarterly and audited annual financial statements in respect of RONA.

Recently, DBRS has discontinued rating these issues while S&P rated them P-2(low) after the takeover closed in May following the decision by preferred shareholders to scorn the $20 offer.

The preferred shareholders figured that keeping RONA as a reporting issuer would be so expensive for Lowe’s that they would gladly pay the full $25 redemption price to get rid of the obligation – I’m not sure if they counted on this maneuver!

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