Category: Issue Comments

Great-West Lifeco Inc. has announced:

the closing of its previously announced offering of 8,000,000 4.50% Non-Cumulative First Preferred Shares, Series Y (the “Series Y Preferred Shares”) for gross proceeds of $200 million. The offering was completed through a syndicate of underwriters led by BMO Capital Markets, RBC Capital Markets, Scotiabank, CIBC Capital Markets and TD Securities. The Series Y Preferred Shares will be listed for trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol “GWO.PR.Y”.

Vital statistics are:

The issue traded 884,860 shares today in a range of 24.95-45 before closing at 24.98-99.

GWO.PR.Y is a Straight Perpetual, 4.50%, announced 2021-10-1. It is tracked by HIMIPref™ and has been assigned to the Insurance-Straight subindex.

Power Corporation of Canada and Power Financial Corporation have announced:

Upon completion of the offering, Power Financial intends to redeem all of its outstanding $200 million First Preferred Shares, Series I.

The offering in the quoted paragraph refers to a today’s announcement of a new issue of 4.50% Straight Perpetuals.

PWF.PR.I is a Straight Perpetual, 6.00%, that commenced trading 2003-3-11. It has been tracked by HIMIPref™ and is assigned to the PerpetualPremium subindex.

Update, 2021-11-13: On October 18, the company announced:

that it intends to redeem all 8,000,000 of its outstanding 6.00% Non-Cumulative First Preferred Shares, Series I (the “Series I Shares”) on November 22, 2021.

In accordance with the terms of the Series I Shares, the redemption price will be $25.00 per Series I Share (for a total of $200 million) together with any declared and unpaid dividends, net of any tax required to be withheld by the Corporation. A notice of the redemption of the Series I Shares will be provided in accordance with the rights, privileges and conditions attached to the Series I Shares.

Brompton Group has announced:

Global Dividend Growth Split Corp. (the “Company”) is pleased to announce it is undertaking an overnight treasury offering of class A and preferred shares (the “Class A Shares” and “Preferred Shares”, respectively).

The sales period for this overnight offering will end at 9:00 a.m. (ET) on Wednesday, October 6, 2021. The offering is expected to close on or about October 13, 2021 and is subject to certain closing conditions including approval by the Toronto Stock Exchange (“TSX”).

The Class A Shares will be offered at a price of $12.25 per Class A Share for a distribution rate of 9.8% on the issue price, and the Preferred Shares will be offered at a price of $10.05 per Preferred Share for a yield to maturity of 4.9%. The closing price on the TSX for each of the Class A Shares and Preferred Shares on October 4, 2021 was $12.51 and $10.50, respectively. The Class A Share and Preferred Share offering prices were determined so as to be non-dilutive to the most recently calculated net asset value per unit of the Company (“Unit”) (calculated as at October 4, 2021), as adjusted for dividends and certain expenses to be accrued prior to or upon settlement of the offering. The offering is being led by RBC Capital Markets.

The Company invests in a diversified portfolio (the “Portfolio”) of equity securities of large capitalization global dividend growth companies selected by the Brompton Funds Limited (the “Manager”). In order to qualify for inclusion in the Portfolio, at the time of investment and at the time of each periodic reconstitution and/or rebalancing of the Portfolio, each global dividend growth company included in the Portfolio must (i) have a market capitalization of at least $10 billion; and (ii) have a history of dividend growth or, in the Manager’s view, have high potential for future dividend growth.

The investment objectives for the Class A Shares are to provide holders with regular monthly cash distributions and to provide the opportunity for capital appreciation through exposure to the Portfolio.

The investment objectives for the Preferred Shares are to provide holders with fixed cumulative preferential quarterly cash distributions, currently in the amount of $0.125 per Preferred Share, and to return the original issue price to holders of Preferred Shares on June 30, 2026.

So whole units are offered for a total of 22.30 per Unit, while the October 4 NAVPU is 20.86; a premium of 6.90%. What a glorious business this is!

Quadravest has announced:

Financial 15 Split Corp. (the “Company”) is pleased to announce the Preferred Share dividend rate for the fiscal year beginning December 1, 2021. Monthly payments to the FTN.PR.A Preferred Share will be maintained at $0.05625 per Share for an annual yield of 6.75% on their $10 redemption value. This represents no change from the current rate.

The Company invests in an actively managed, high quality portfolio consisting of 15 financial services companies made up of Canadian and U.S. issuers as follows:

Bank of Montreal	National Bank of Canada	Bank of America Corp.
The Bank of Nova Scotia	Manulife Financial Corporation	Citigroup Inc.
Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce	Sun Life Financial Services of Canada Inc.	Goldman SachsGroup Inc.
Royal Bank of Canada	Great-West Lifeco Inc.	JP Morgan Chase & Co.
The Toronto-Dominion Bank	CI Financial Corp.	Wells Fargo & Co.

The initial temporary increase in dividend was announced last year.

On September 23, 2020, Quadravest announced:

North American Financial 15 Split Corp. (the “Company”) is pleased to announce the Preferred Share dividend rate for the fiscal year beginning December 1, 2020. Monthlypayments to the FFN.PR.A Preferred Share will be $0.05625 per Share for an annual yield of 6.75% on their $10 redemption value. This is an increase of one and a quarter percent over the current rate.

The Company invests in an actively managed, high quality portfolio consisting of 15 financial services companies made up of Canadian and U.S. issuers as follows:

Bank of Montreal	National Bank of Canada	Bank of America Corp.
The Bank of Nova Scotia	Manulife Financial Corporation	Citigroup Inc.
Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce	Sun Life Financial Services of Canada Inc.	Goldman Sachs Group Inc.
Royal / of Canada	Great-West Lifeco Inc.	JP Morgan Chase & Co.
The Toronto-Dominion Bank	CI Financial Corp.	Wells Fargo & Co.

They have further announced (on 2021-10-1):

North American Financial 15 Split Corp. (the “Company”) is pleased to announce the Preferred Share dividend rate for the fiscal year beginning December 1, 2021. Monthly payments to the FFN.PR.A Preferred Share will be maintained at $0.05625 per Share for an annual yield of 6.75% on their $10 redemption value. This represents no
change from the current rate.

The Company invests in an actively managed, high quality portfolio consisting of 15 financial services companies made up of Canadian and U.S. issuers as follows:

Bank of Montreal	National Bank of Canada	Bank of America Corp.
The Bank of Nova Scotia	Manulife Financial Corporation	Citigroup Inc.
Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce	Sun Life Financial Services of Canada Inc.	Goldman Sachs Group Inc.
Royal Bank of Canada	Great-West Lifeco Inc.	JP Morgan Chase & Co.
The Toronto-Dominion Bank	CI Financial Corp.	Wells Fargo & Co.

The Toronto-Dominion Bank has announced (on September 24):

that it will exercise its right to redeem all of its 40,000,000 outstanding Non-Cumulative 5-Year Rate Reset Class A First Preferred Shares, Series 14 (Non-Viability Contingent Capital) (the “Series 14 Shares”) on October 31, 2021 at the price of $25.00 per Series 14 Share for an aggregate total of approximately $1 billion.

On August 26, 2021, TD announced that dividends of $0.303125 per Series 14 Share had been declared. These will be the final dividends on the Series 14 Shares, and will be paid in the usual manner on October 31, 2021 to shareholders of record on October 8, 2021, as previously announced. After October 31, 2021, the Series 14 Shares will cease to be entitled to dividends and the only remaining rights of holders of such shares will be to receive payment of the redemption amount.

Beneficial holders who are not directly the registered holder of Series 14 Shares should contact the financial institution, broker or other intermediary through which they hold these shares to confirm how they will receive their redemption proceeds. Inquiries should be directed to our Registrar and Transfer Agent, AST Trust Company (Canada), at 1-800-387-0825 (or in Toronto 416-682-3860).

TD.PF.H is a FixedReset, 4.85%+412, NVCC, that commenced trading 2016-9-29 after being announced 2016-8-29. It is a monster issue, the largest in the market, with 40-million shares (=$1-billion p.v.) outstanding.

Brookfield Office Properties Inc., a subsidiary of Brookfield Property Partners L.P., has announced (on September 23):

that 37,837 of its Class AAA Preference Shares, Series R (“Series R Shares”) (TSX: BPO.PR.R) and 372,644 of its Class AAA Preference Shares, Series S (“Series S Shares”) (TSX: BPO.PR.S) were tendered for conversion into Series S Shares and Series R Shares, respectively.

Brookfield currently has 8,883,425 Series R Shares and 1,116,575 Series S Shares outstanding. After taking into account all shares tendered for conversion, there would be less than one million Series S Shares outstanding on September 30, 2021, the conversion date. Accordingly, as provided in the share conditions of the Series S Shares, all remaining Series S Shares will be automatically converted into Series R Shares on a one-for-one basis effective on the conversion date. There will be no conversion of Series R Shares into Series S Shares, and holders of Series R Shares will retain their Series R Shares.

Following the automatic conversion, there will be 10,000,000 Series R Shares and no Series S Shares issued and outstanding. Current holders of Series S Shares will receive a dividend of $0.22622 per share payable on September 30, 2021 in respect of the July 1, 2021 to September 30, 2021 floating rate period. If declared, the fixed quarterly dividends on the Series R Shares during the five years commencing October 1, 2021 will be paid at an annual rate of 4.30% ($0.26875 per share per quarter). The Series S Shares will be de-listed from the Toronto Stock Exchange effective as of close of trading on September 30, 2021.

BPO.PR.R was issued as a 5.10%+348 FixedReset that commenced trading 2011-9-2 after being announced 2011-8-25. The issue reset to 4.155% in 2016 and there was an 11% conversion to the FloatingReset BPO.PR.S. BPO.PR.R reset to 4.30% in 2021.

BPO.PR.S is a FloatingReset, Bills+348, that arose via a partial conversion from BPO.PR.R in 2016.

Intact Financial Corporation has announced:

that 58,082 of its 8,405,004 Non-cumulative Rate Reset Class A Shares Series 3 (the “Series 3 Preferred Shares”) were tendered for conversion on September 30, 2021, on a one-for-one basis, into Non-cumulative Floating Rate Class A Shares Series 4 of IFC (the “Series 4 Preferred Shares”) after having taken into account all elections received before the September 15, 2021, 5:00 p.m. (ET) conversion deadline. Further, 886,758 of its 1,594,996 Series 4 Preferred Shares were tendered for conversion on September 30, 2021, on a one-for-one basis, into Series 3 Preferred Shares after having taken into account all elections received before the September 15, 2021, 5:00 p.m. (ET) conversion deadline. As a result of these conversions, less than 1,000,000 Series 4 Preferred Shares would remain outstanding on September 30, 2021. Therefore, no Series 3 Preferred Shares will be converted into Series 4 Preferred Shares, and all of the remaining outstanding Series 4 Preferred Shares will automatically be converted into Series 3 Preferred Shares on the basis of one Series 3 Preferred Share for each Series 4 Preferred Share, on September 30, 2021. IFC will have 10,000,000 Series 3 Preferred Shares issued and outstanding. The Series 3 Preferred Shares will continue to be listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (“TSX”) under the symbol IFC.PR.C and the additional shares will begin trading on the TSX on September 30, 2021, subject to IFC fulfilling all the listing requirements of the TSX. The Series 4 Preferred Shares will cease trading on the TSX at market open on September 30, 2021 and will be delisted following market close on the same day.

Subject to certain conditions described in IFC’s prospectus supplement dated August 11, 2011, IFC may redeem the Series 3 Preferred Shares, in whole or in part, on September 30, 2026 and on September 30 every five years thereafter, in accordance with the terms described in IFC’s prospectus supplement dated August 11, 2011.

For more information on the terms of, and risks associated with an investment in, the Series 3 Preferred Shares and the Series 4 Preferred Shares, please see IFC’s prospectus supplement dated August 11, 2011 which is available on www.sedar.com.

IFC.PR.C was issued as a FixedReset, 4.20%+266, that commenced trading 2011-8-18 after being announced 2011-8-9. It reset to 3.332% in 2016 and there was a 16% conversion to the FloatingReset IFC.PR.D. IFC.PR.C reset to 3.457% in 2021.

IFC.PR.D is a FloatingReset, Bills+266, that arose via a partial conversion from IFC.PR.C in 2016.

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

Emera Incorporated has announced:

that it has completed its bought deal offering of 9,000,000 Cumulative Redeemable First Preferred Shares, Series L (the “Series L Preferred Shares”) at a price of $25.00 per share for aggregate gross proceeds of $225,000,000. The syndicate of underwriters was led by TD Securities Inc. and CIBC Capital Markets as joint bookrunners, and also included RBC Capital Markets, Scotiabank, BMO Capital Markets and National Bank Financial Inc. The Series L Preferred Shares will be listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol EMA.PR.L. The net proceeds of the offering will be used for general corporate purposes.

EMA.PR.L is a 4.60% Straight Perpetual, announced 2021-9-15. It has been assigned to the Scraps PerpetualPremium subindex.

It traded 889,860 shares today in a range of 25.11-68 before closing at 25.61-69.

Brompton Group has announced:

Dividend Growth Split Corp. (the “Company”) is pleased to announce a successful overnight treasury offering of class A shares and preferred shares (the “Class A Shares” and “Preferred Shares”, respectively). Gross proceeds of the offering are expected to be approximately $60.2 million. The offering is expected to close on or about September 28, 2021 and is subject to certain closing conditions. The Company has granted the Agents (as defined below) an over-allotment option, exercisable for 30 days following the closing date of the offering, to purchase up to an additional 15% of the number of Class A Shares and Preferred Shares issued at the closing of the offering.

The Class A Shares were offered at a price of $6.70 per Class A Share for a distribution rate of 17.9% on the issue price, and the Preferred Shares were offered at a price of $10.00 per Preferred Share for a yield to maturity of 5.7%.(1) The closing price on the Toronto Stock Exchange (the “TSX”) for each of the Class A Shares and Preferred Shares on September 21, 2021 was $6.70 and $10.12, respectively. The Class A Share and Preferred Share offering prices were determined so as to be non-dilutive to the most recently calculated net asset value per unit of the Company (“Unit”) (calculated as at September 20, 2021), as adjusted for dividends and certain expenses to be accrued prior to or upon settlement of the offering.

The syndicate of agents for the offering was led by RBC Capital Markets, CIBC Capital Markets, National Bank Financial Inc., and Scotiabank and includes BMO Capital Markets, Canaccord Genuity Corp., Hampton Securities Limited, TD Securities Inc., Raymond James Ltd., iA Private Wealth Inc., Echelon Wealth Partners Inc., Richardson Wealth Limited, Manulife Securities Incorporated and Research Capital Corporation.

The Company invests in a portfolio (the “Portfolio”) consisting primarily of equity securities of Canadian dividend growth companies. In addition, the Company may hold up to 20% of the total assets of the Portfolio in global dividend growth companies for diversification and improved return potential, at the discretion of Brompton Funds Limited (the “Manager”). In order to qualify for inclusion in the Portfolio, at the time of investment and at the time of each periodic reconstitution and/or rebalancing, each dividend growth company included in the Portfolio must have (i) a market capitalization of at least CDN$2.0 billion; and (ii) a history of dividend growth or, in the Manager’s view, have high potential for future dividend growth.