PrefBlog

ECN Capital Corp. has announced:

that it has entered into an agreement with a syndicate of underwriters led by BMO Capital Markets, CIBC Capital Markets, National Bank Financial Inc., RBC Capital Markets and TD Securities Inc. The underwriters have agreed to buy 4,000,000 Cumulative 5-Year Minimum Rate Reset Preferred Shares, Series C (the “Series C Preferred Shares”) at a price of $25.00 per share for aggregate gross proceeds of $100,000,000. The net proceeds are expected to be used to originate and finance, directly and indirectly, finance assets, to fund future acquisitions and for general corporate purposes.
ECN Capital has granted the underwriters an option to purchase at the offering price up to an additional 1,000,000 Series C Preferred Shares exercisable, in whole or in part, at any time up to 48 hours prior to closing of the offering. Should the option be fully exercised, the total gross proceeds of the Series C Preferred Share offering will be $125,000,000.

The Series C Preferred Shares will be issued to the public at a price of $25.00 per share and holders will be entitled to receive fixed cumulative preferential cash dividends, payable by quarterly installments for an initial period of five years, as and when declared by the Board of Directors of the Corporation, at a rate of $1.5625 per share per annum, to yield 6.25% annually. Thereafter, the dividend rate will reset every five years to the sum of the then current 5-Year Government of Canada Bond yield and 5.19%, provided that, in any event, such sum shall not be less than 6.25%. On June 30, 2022, and on June 30 of every fifth year thereafter, the Corporation may redeem the Series C Preferred Shares in whole or in part at par.

Holders will have the right to elect to convert all or any of their Series C Preferred Shares into an equal number of Cumulative Floating Rate Preferred Shares, Series D (the “Series D Preferred Shares”) on June 30, 2022, and on June 30 of every fifth year thereafter. Holders of the Series D Preferred Shares will be entitled to receive quarterly floating rate cumulative preferential cash dividends, as and when declared by the Board of Directors of the Corporation, equal to the sum of the then current 3-month Government of Canada Treasury Bill yield and 5.19%. On June 30, 2027 and on June 30, of every fifth year thereafter (a “Series D Redemption Date”), the Corporation may redeem the Series D Preferred Shares in whole or in part at par. On any other date that is not a Series D Redemption Date after June 30, 2022, the Corporation may redeem the Series D Preferred Shares in whole or in part by the payment of $25.50 for each share to be redeemed.

The offering is being made only in the provinces of Canada by means of a prospectus supplement to the Corporation’s base shelf prospectus. The closing date of the offering is expected to be on or about May 25, 2017.

DBRS has assigned a Pfd-3(low) rating to the issue:

The rating reflects the Company’s solid franchise as a leading commercial lender and lessor in North America with strong origination platforms and sound risk management across multiple asset classes. The rating also considers the solid earnings generation derived from the franchise, producing more than sufficient pre-provision earnings to absorb the cost of credit with a solid cushion to absorb potentially higher losses that would be expected through the cycle, as well as unexpected losses. Funding is appropriate and aligned with the asset base, while leverage is considered low compared to peers. The Company’s reliance on secured forms of wholesale funding and execution risks associated with the Company’s evolving strategy to become more “asset-lite”, as well as the potential for entry into new business activities currently constrain the ratings.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 16th, 2017 at 12:04 am and is filed under New Issues. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.