Category: Issue Comments

Birchcliff Energy Ltd. has announced:

• • Subject to the approval of Birchcliff’s board of directors, Birchcliff currently intends to redeem all of its outstanding Series A and Series C preferred shares at the end of Q3 2022.
• • Birchcliff expects to reach zero total debt in Q4 2022, even after the proposed redemption of its Series A and Series C preferred shares, with an anticipated surplus of $260 million to $280 million at year-end 2022, based on current strip pricing.

BIR.PR.A was issued as a FixedReset, 8.00%+683 that commenced trading 2012-8-8. It reset to 8.374% in 2017.

BIR.PR.C was issued as a seven-year retractible, 7.00%, that commenced trading in 2013.

Neither issue has been tracked by HIMIPref™.

Thanks to Assiduous Reader Dan Good for bringing this to my attention!

– ECN Capital Corp. has announced:

that it does not intend to exercise its right to redeem all or any part of the currently outstanding Cumulative 5-Year Minimum Rate Reset Preferred Shares, Series C (the “Series C Shares”) (TSX: ECN.PR.C) on June 30, 2022 (the “Conversion Date”).

As a result and subject to certain conditions set out in the terms of the Series C Shares as set out in the Company’s articles and summarized in the prospectus supplement of the Company dated May 17, 2017 relating to the issuance of the Series C Shares, the holders of the Series C Shares will have the right to convert all or any of their Series C Shares into Cumulative Floating Rate Preferred Shares, Series D of the Company (the “Series D Shares”) on the basis of one Series D Share for each Series C Share on the Conversion Date.

With respect to any Series C Shares that remain outstanding after the Conversion Date, holders thereof will be entitled to receive quarterly fixed cumulative preferential cash dividends, if, as and when declared by the Board of Directors of the Company. The annual dividend rate for the Series C Shares for the five-year period from and including June 30, 2022 to but excluding June 30, 2027 will be 7.93700%, being equal to the five-year Government of Canada bond yield of 2.74700% determined as of May 31, 2022 plus 5.19000%, determined in accordance with the terms of the Series C Shares.

With respect to any Series D Shares that may be issued on the Conversion Date, holders thereof will be entitled to receive quarterly floating rate cumulative preferential cash dividends, if, as and when declared by the Board of Directors of the Company. The dividend rate applicable to the Series D Shares for the three-month period from and including June 30, 2022 to but excluding September 30, 2022 will be 6.66700%, being equal to the annual rate for the most recent auction as of May 31, 2022 of three-month Government of Canada Treasury Bills of 1.47700% plus 5.19000%, determined in accordance with the terms of the Series D Shares (the “Floating Quarterly Dividend Rate”). The Floating Quarterly Dividend Rate will be reset every quarter.

As provided in the terms of the Series C Shares, if ECN determines after reviewing all Series C Shares tendered for conversion into Series D Shares that: (i) there would remain outstanding on the Conversion Date less than 500,000 Series C Shares, all remaining Series C Shares shall be converted automatically into Series D Shares on a one-for one basis effective on the Conversion Date; or (ii) there would remain outstanding on the Conversion Date less than 500,000 Series D Shares, the holders of Series C Shares shall not be entitled to convert their shares into Series D Shares on the Conversion Date. There are currently 3,712,400 Series C Shares outstanding.

The Series C Shares are issued in “book entry only” form and must be purchased or transferred through a participant in the CDS depository service (“CDS Participant”). All rights of holders of Series C Shares must be exercised through CDS or the CDS Participant through which the Series C Shares are held. The deadline for the registered shareholder to provide notice of exercise of the right to convert Series C Shares into Series D Shares is 5:00 p.m. (Toronto time) on June 17, 2022. Any notices received after this deadline will not be valid. As such, holders of Series C Shares who wish to exercise their right to convert their shares should contact their broker or other intermediary for more information and it is recommended that this be done well in advance of the deadline in order to provide the broker or other intermediary with time to complete the necessary steps.

If ECN does not receive an election notice from a holder of Series C Shares during the time fixed therefor, then the Series C Shares shall be deemed not to have been converted (except in the case of an automatic conversion). Holders of the Series C Shares and the Series D Shares will have the opportunity to convert their shares again on June 30, 2027, and every five years thereafter as long as the shares remain outstanding.

The Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) has conditionally approved the listing of the Series D Shares effective upon conversion. Listing of the Series D Shares is subject to ECN fulfilling all the listing requirements of the TSX.

ECN.PR.C was issued as a FixedReset, 6.25%+519M625, that commenced trading 2017-5-25 after being announced 2017-5-15. It is tracked by HIMIPref™ but relegated to the Scraps subindex on credit concerns.

Thanks to Assiduous Reader CanSiamCyp for ensuring I was aware of this!

As mentioned in the June 1 Market Action Report, I recently was forwarded a copy about a complaint regarding the dividend amount for BCE.PR.B:

Assiduous Reader TS sends me a copy of an eMail he sent to BCE:

Dear Sir or Madame,

I believe that the dividend on BCE.PR.B and similar prime rate preferred shares for record date May 31, 2022 were calculated incorrectly.

On the website it states that the dividend is $0.06215

The prime rate for the entire month of May was 3.2% so $25 x 3.2% / 12 mths = $0.06667

You still have time to change that as payment date is Jun 13, 2022.

Please correct as soon as possible.

Thank you.

Today, the dividend page for BCE.PR.B has been revised to show a dividend payable June 13 for 0.06667 and I was forwarded a copy of BCE’s response:

Good morning!

Indeed, you are correct and we had caught it just in time to have it corrected with the various instances when you wrote to us.

Really appreciate you taking the time to let us know.

Sincerely,

Well done, TS! It always pays to check things and pays even better to make polite inquiries when something seems strange!

Brookfield Asset Management Inc. has announced:

that it has determined the fixed dividend rate on its Cumulative Class A Preference Shares, Series 28 (“Series 28 Shares”) (TSX: BAM.PR.X) for the five years commencing July 1, 2022 and ending June 30, 2027.

If declared, the fixed quarterly dividends on the Series 28 Shares during the five years commencing July 1, 2022 will be paid at an annual rate of 4.606% ($0.287875 per share per quarter).

Holders of Series 28 Shares have the right, at their option, exercisable not later than 5:00 p.m. (Toronto time) on June 15, 2022, to convert all or part of their Series 28 Shares, on a one-for-one basis, into Cumulative Class A Preference Shares, Series 29 (the “Series 29 Shares”), effective June 30, 2022. The quarterly floating rate dividends on the Series 29 Shares will be paid at an annual rate, calculated for each quarter, of 1.80% over the annual yield on the three-month Government of Canada treasury bills. The actual quarterly dividend rate in respect of the July 1, 2022 to September 30, 2022 dividend period for the Series 29 Shares will be 0.82598% (3.277% on an annualized basis) and the dividend, if declared, for such dividend period will be $0.2065 per share, payable on September 30, 2022.

Holders of Series 28 Shares are not required to elect to convert all or any part of their Series 28 Shares into Series 29 Shares.

As provided in the share conditions of the Series 28 Shares, (i) if Brookfield determines that there would be fewer than 1,000,000 Series 28 Shares outstanding after June 30, 2022, all remaining Series 28 Shares will be automatically converted into Series 29 Shares on a one-for-one basis effective June 30, 2022; and (ii) if Brookfield determines that there would be fewer than 1,000,000 Series 29 Shares outstanding after June 30, 2022, no Series 28 Shares will be permitted to be converted into Series 29 Shares. There are currently 9,233,927 Series 28 Shares outstanding.

The Toronto Stock Exchange (“TSX”) has conditionally approved the listing of the Series 29 Shares effective upon conversion. Listing of the Series 29 Shares is subject to Brookfield fulfilling all the listing requirements of the TSX.

BAM.PR.X was issued as a FixedReset, 4.60%+180, that commenced trading 2011-2-8 after being announced 2011-1-19. It reset at 2.727% in 2017. I recommended against conversion and there was no conversion.It is included in the FixedReset (Discount) subindex.

Thanks to Assiduous Reader CanSiamCyp for ensuring I was aware of this!

TransAlta Corporation has announced:

that it does not intend to exercise its right to redeem all or any part of the currently outstanding cumulative redeemable rate reset first preferred shares Series C (“Series C Shares”) (TSX: TA.PR.F) on June 30, 2022 (the “Conversion Date”).

As a result and subject to certain conditions set out in the prospectus supplement dated November 23, 2011 relating to the issuance of the Series C Shares, the holders of the Series C Shares will have the right to convert all or any of their Series C Shares into cumulative redeemable floating rate first preferred shares Series D of the Company (“Series D Shares”) on the basis of one Series D Share for each Series C Share on the Conversion Date.

With respect to any Series C Shares that remain outstanding after June 30, 2022, holders thereof will be entitled to receive quarterly fixed cumulative preferential cash dividends, if, as and when declared by the Board of Directors of TransAlta. The annual dividend rate for the Series C Shares for the five-year period from and including June 30, 2022 to but excluding June 30, 2027, will be 5.85400%, being equal to the five-year Government of Canada bond yield of 2.75400% determined as of today plus 3.10000%, in accordance with the terms of the Series C Shares.

With respect to any Series D Shares that may be issued on June 30, 2022, holders thereof will be entitled to receive quarterly floating rate cumulative preferential cash dividends, if, as and when declared by the Board of Directors of TransAlta. The annual dividend rate for the 3-month floating rate period from and including June 30, 2022 to but excluding September 30, 2022 will be 4.57700%, being equal to the annual rate for the most recent auction of 90-day Government of Canada Treasury Bills of 1.47700% plus 3.10000%, in accordance with the terms of the Series D Shares (the “Floating Quarterly Dividend Rate”). The Floating Quarterly Dividend Rate will be reset every quarter.

As provided in the terms of the Series C Shares, if TransAlta determines after reviewing all Series C Shares tendered for conversion into Series D Shares that: (i) there would remain outstanding on June 30, 2022, less than 1,000,000 Series C Shares, all remaining Series C Shares shall be converted automatically into Series D Shares on a one-for one basis effective June 30, 2022; or (ii) there would remain outstanding after June 30, 2022, less than 1,000,000 Series D Shares, the holders of Series C Shares shall not be entitled to convert their shares into Series D Shares effective June 30, 2022. There are currently 11,000,000 Series C Shares outstanding.

The Series C Shares are issued in “book entry only” form and must be purchased or transferred through a participant in the CDS depository service (“CDS Participant”). All rights of holders of Series C Shares must be exercised through CDS or the CDS Participant through which the Series C Shares are held. The deadline for the registered shareholder to provide notice of exercise of the right to convert Series C Shares into Series D Shares is 3:00 p.m. (MST) / 5:00 p.m. (EST) on June 15, 2022. Any notices received after this deadline will not be valid. As such, holders of Series C Shares who wish to exercise their right to convert their shares should contact their broker or other intermediary for more information and it is recommended that this be done well in advance of the deadline in order to provide the broker or other intermediary with time to complete the necessary steps.

If TransAlta does not receive an election notice from a holder of Series C Shares during the time fixed therefor, then the Series C Shares shall be deemed not to have been converted (except in the case of an automatic conversion). Holders of the Series C Shares and the Series D Shares will have the opportunity to convert their shares again on June 30, 2027, and every five years thereafter as long as the shares remain outstanding.

The Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) has conditionally approved the listing of the Series D Shares effective upon conversion. Listing of the Series D Shares is subject to TransAlta fulfilling all the listing requirements of the TSX.

TA.PR.F was issued as a FixedReset, 4.60%+310, that commenced trading 2011-11-30 after being announced 2011-11-22. It reset to 4.027% in 2017; there was no conversion. It has been relegated to the Scraps subindex since inception on credit concerns.

Thanks to Assiduous Reader skeptical for ensuring I was aware of this!

Brookfield Office Properties Inc., a subsidiary of Brookfield Property Partners L.P., has announced:

the reset dividend rate on its Class AAA Preference Shares, Series GG (“Series GG Shares”) (TSX: BPO.PR.G).

If declared, the fixed quarterly dividends on the Series GG Shares for the five years commencing July 1, 2022 and ending June 30, 2027 will be paid at an annual rate of 6.546% ($0.409125 per share per quarter).

Holders of Series GG Shares have the right, at their option, exercisable not later than 5:00 p.m. (Toronto time) on June 15, 2022, to convert all or part of their Series GG Shares, on a one-for-one basis, into Class AAA Preference Shares, Series HH (“Series HH Shares”), effective June 30, 2022.

The quarterly floating rate dividends on the Series HH Shares have an annual rate, calculated for each quarter, of 3.74% over the annual yield on three-month Government of Canada treasury bills. The actual quarterly dividend rate for the July 1, 2022 to September 30, 2022 dividend period for the Series HH Shares will be 1.31573% (5.22% on an annualized basis) and the dividend, if declared, for such dividend period will be $0.328933 per share, payable on September 30, 2022.

Holders of Series GG Shares are not required to elect to convert all or any part of their Series GG Shares into Series HH Shares.

As provided in the share conditions of the Series GG Shares, (i) if Brookfield determines that there would be fewer than 1,000,000 Series GG Shares outstanding after June 30, 2022, all remaining Series GG Shares will be automatically converted into Series HH Shares on a one-for-one basis effective June 30, 2022; and (ii) if Brookfield determines that there would be fewer than 1,000,000 Series HH Shares outstanding after June 30, 2022, no Series GG Shares will be permitted to be converted into Series HH Shares. There are currently 11,000,000 Series GG Shares outstanding.

The Toronto Stock Exchange (“TSX”) has conditionally approved the listing of the Series HH Shares effective upon conversion. Listing of the Series HH Shares is subject to Brookfield fulfilling all the listing requirements of the TSX and, upon approval, the Series HH Shares will be listed on the TSX under the trading symbol “BPO.PR.H”.

BPO.PR.G was issued as a FixedReset, 4.85%+374M485, that commenced trading 2017-5-4 after being announced 2017-04-26. It has been tracked by HIMIPref™ but relegated to the Scraps index on credit concerns.

Thanks to Assiduous Reader CanSiamCyp for ensuring I was aware of this.

Canaccord Genuity Group Inc. has announced (bolding from original):

y the applicable dividend rates for its Cumulative 5-Year Rate Reset First Preferred Shares, Series C (the “Series C Preferred Shares”) and its Cumulative Floating Rate First Preferred Shares, Series D (the “Series D Preferred Shares”), further to its press release dated May 24, 2022 announcing that it does not intend to exercise its right to redeem all or any part of the currently outstanding Series C Preferred Shares and, as a result of which, subject to certain conditions, the holders of the Series C Preferred Shares have the right to convert all or any part of their Series C Preferred Shares into Series D Preferred Shares on a one-for-one basis.

With respect to any Series C Preferred Shares that remain outstanding after June 30, 2022, holders thereof will be entitled to receive quarterly fixed, cumulative, preferential cash dividends, if, as and when declared by the Board of Directors of the Company, subject to the provisions of the Business Corporations Act (British Columbia). The dividend rate for the five-year period commencing on July 1, 2022 and ending on and including June 30, 2027 will be 6.837% per annum, being equal to the sum of the five-year Government of Canada bond yield determined as of today, plus 4.03%, in accordance with the terms of the Series C Preferred Shares.

With respect to any Series D Preferred Shares that may be issued on June 30, 2022, holders thereof will be entitled to receive quarterly floating rate, cumulative, preferential cash dividends, if, as and when declared by the Board of Directors of the Company, subject to the provisions of the Business Corporations Act(British Columbia). The dividend rate for the three-month period commencing on July 1, 2022 and ending on and including September 30, 2022 will be 5.507% per annum, being equal to the sum of the three-month Government of Canada Treasury Bill yield determined as of today, plus 4.03% (calculated on the basis of the actual number of days elapsed during such quarterly period divided by 365), in accordance with the terms of the Series D Preferred Shares. The quarterly floating dividend rate will be reset every quarter.

Beneficial owners of Series C Preferred Shares who wish to exercise their conversion right should communicate as soon as possible with their broker or other nominee to ensure their instructions are followed for exercising such right on or prior to the deadline for exercise, which is 5:00 p.m. (Eastern time) on June 15, 2022

CF.PR.C was issued as a FixedReset, 5.75%+403, that commenced trading 2012-4-10 after being announced 2012-3-22. In 2017, it reset at 4.993%. I recommended against conversion and there was no conversion. The extension in 2022 was previously announced. The issue has been relegated to the Scraps subindex since inception on credit concerns.

Thanks to Assiduous Reader Yomgui for ensuring I was aware of this!

Enbridge Inc. has announced (on May 19):

that, after taking into account all election notices received prior to 5:00 p.m. (EST) on May 17, 2022, 107,904 of its 18,269,812 Cumulative Redeemable Preference Shares, Series B (Series B Shares) were tendered for conversion, on a one-for-one basis, into Cumulative Redeemable Preference Shares, Series C of Enbridge (Series C Shares) and 1,188,789 of its 1,730,188 Series C Shares were tendered for conversion, on a one-for-one basis, into Series B Shares of Enbridge, effective on June 1, 2022.

Enbridge, after taking into account all Series B Shares and all Series C Shares tendered for conversion, has determined that there will be less than 1,000,000 Series C Shares outstanding after June 1, 2022. Consequently, all remaining Series C Shares will automatically be converted into Series B Shares on a one-for-one basis on June 1, 2022, and no Series B Shares will be converted into Series C Shares. The Series B Shares and the Series C Shares are currently listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbols ENB. PR.B. and ENB.PR.C, respectively.

ENB.PR.B was issued as a FixedReset, 4.00%+240, that commenced trading 2011-9-30 after being announced 2011-9-21. It reset to 3.415% in 2017; I recommended against conversion; but there was an 8% conversion to the FloatingReset, ENB.PR.C, anyway. ENB.PR.B reset to 5.202% in 2022.

ENB.PR.C is a FloatingReset, 3-Month Bills+240, that arose via partial conversion from ENB.PR.B in 2017.

Canadian Utilities Limited has announced (on May 24):

that after having taken into account all election notices following the conversion deadline for the Cumulative Redeemable Second Preferred Shares Series Y (“Series Y Preferred Shares”) tendered for conversion into Cumulative Redeemable Second Preferred Shares Series Z (“Series Z Preferred Shares”), the holders of Series Y Preferred Shares are not entitled to convert their Series Y Preferred Shares into Series Z Preferred Shares. There were approximately 21,400 Series Y Preferred Shares tendered for conversion, which is less than the two million shares required to give effect to conversions into Series Z Preferred Shares.

The Series Y Preferred Shares will continue to pay on a quarterly basis, for the five-year period from and including June 1, 2022 to but excluding June 1, 2027, as and when declared by the Board of Directors of Canadian Utilities Limited, a fixed dividend based on an annual dividend rate of 5.20%

For more information on the terms of, and risks associated with an investment in, the Series Y Preferred Shares, please see Canadian Utilities Limited’s prospectus supplement dated September 15, 2011, which can be found under Canadian Utilities Limited’s profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

CU.PR.C was issued as a FixedReset, 4.00%+240, that commenced trading 2011-9-21 after being announced 2011-9-13. It reset to 3.40% in 2017; I recommended against conversion; and there was no conversion. The issue reset to 5.20% in 2022.

Canaccord Genuity Group Inc. has announced:

that it does not intend to exercise its right to redeem all or any part of the currently outstanding Cumulative 5-Year Rate Reset First Preferred Shares, Series C of the Company (the “Series C Preferred Shares”) on June 30, 2022 (the “Conversion Date”). There are currently 4,000,000 Series C Preferred Shares outstanding.

As a result, and subject to certain conditions set out in the short form prospectus dated April 2, 2012, relating to the issuance of the Series C Preferred Shares, the holders of the Series C Preferred Shares have the right, at their option, to convert all or any of their Series C Preferred Shares, on a one-for-one basis, into Cumulative Floating Rate First Preferred Shares, Series D of the Company (the “Series D Preferred Shares”) on the Conversion Date (the “Conversion Privilege”). A formal notice of the Conversion Privilege will be sent to the registered holder of the Series C Preferred Shares.

Holders who do not exercise their right to convert their Series C Preferred Shares into Series D Preferred Shares will continue to hold their Series C Preferred Shares and will have the opportunity to convert their shares again on June 30, 2027, and every five years thereafter as long as the shares remain outstanding.

The foregoing Conversion Privilege is subject to the following conditions: (i) if the Company determines that there would be less than 1,000,000Series D Preferred Shares outstanding on the Conversion Date, then holders of Series C Preferred Shares will not be entitled to convert their shares into Series D Preferred Shares; and (ii) alternatively, if the Company determines that there would remain outstanding less than 1,000,000 Series C Preferred Shares on the Conversion Date, then all remaining Series C Preferred Shares will automatically be converted into Series D Preferred Shares on a one-for-one basis on the Conversion Date. In either case, the Company will give written notice to that effect to any registered holders affected by the preceding conditions of the Series C Preferred Shares no later than June 23, 2022.

The dividend rate applicable to the Series C Preferred Shares for the five-year period commencing on July 1, 2022, and ending on and including June 30, 2027, and the dividend rate applicable to the Series D Preferred Shares for the three-month period commencing on July 1, 2022, and ending on and including September 30, 2022 will be determined and announced by way of a press release on June 1, 2022.

Beneficial owners of Series C Preferred Shares who wish to exercise their Conversion Privilege should communicate as soon as possible with their broker or other nominee to obtain instructions for exercising such right during the conversion period, which runs from May 31, 2022 until 5:00 p.m. ET on June 15, 2022.

CF.PR.C was issued as a FixedReset, 5.75%+403, that commenced trading 2012-4-10 after being announced 2012-3-22. In 2017, it reset at 4.993%. I recommended against conversion and there was no conversion.The has been relegated to the Scraps subindex since inception on credit concerns.

Thanks to Assiduous Reader Philip169382 for bringing this to my attention!