Category: Return of Capital

Brookfield Renewable Partners L.P. has announced:

that it has agreed to issue 6,000,000 5.75% Cumulative Minimum Rate Reset Class A Preferred Limited Partnership Units, Series 19 (the “Series 19 Preferred Units”) on a bought deal basis to a syndicate of underwriters led by Scotiabank, BMO Capital Markets, CIBC Capital Markets, National Bank of Canada Capital Markets, RBC Capital Markets and TD Securities Inc. for distribution to the public. The Series 19 Preferred Units will be issued at a price of C$25.00 per unit, for gross proceeds of C$150,000,000.

Holders of the Series 19 Preferred Units will be entitled to receive a cumulative quarterly fixed distribution yielding 5.75% annually for the initial period ending July 31, 2031. Thereafter, the distribution rate will be reset every five years at a rate equal to the greater of (i) the 5-year Government of Canada bond yield plus 2.65%, and (ii) 5.75%. The Series 19 Preferred Units are redeemable on July 31, 2031 and on each Series 19 Reclassification Date (as defined below) thereafter.

Holders of the Series 19 Preferred Units will have the right, at their option, to reclassify their Series 19 Preferred Units into Cumulative Floating Rate Reset Class A Preferred Limited Partnership Units, Series 20 (“Series 20 Preferred Units”), subject to certain conditions, on July 31, 2031 and on July 31 every 5 years thereafter (each a “Series 19 Reclassification Date”). Holders of Series 20 Preferred Units will be entitled to receive a cumulative quarterly floating distribution at a rate equal to the 90-day Canadian Treasury Bill yield plus 2.65%.

Brookfield Renewable has granted the underwriters an option, exercisable until 48 hours prior to closing, to purchase up to an additional 2,000,000 Series 19 Preferred Units which, if exercised, would increase the gross offering size to C$200,000,000.

The Series 19 Preferred Units will be offered in all provinces and territories of Canada by way of a prospectus supplement to Brookfield Renewable’s existing Canadian short form base shelf prospectus dated September 26, 2025. The Series 19 Preferred Units may not be offered or sold in the United States or to U.S. persons absent registration or an applicable exemption from the registration requirements under the U.S. Securities Act.

Brookfield Renewable intends to use the net proceeds from this offering to fund Eligible Investments (as defined in Brookfield Renewable’s 2024 Green Financing Framework (the “Green Financing Framework”)), including to repay indebtedness incurred in respect thereof. The Green Financing Framework is available on Brookfield Renewable’s website and described in the prospectus supplement in respect of the offering.

The offering of Series 19 Preferred Units is expected to close on or about June 9, 2026.

The distributions of this one are probably complex – by which I mean, not eligible dividends, more like some Return of Capital, some of just about anything – but the prospectus is not yet available on SEDARplus.

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

Update, 2026-6-8: OK, the prospectus is finally available on SEDARplus and can be obtained by searching for:
Brookfield Renewable Partners L.P. / Brookfield Renewable Partners L.P. (000032548)
Prospectus (non pricing) supplement (other than ATM) – English.pdf
04 Jun 2026 16:33 EDTJune 04 2026 at 16:33:17 Eastern Daylight Time
Ontario
691 KB
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I’m not allowed to link for it as the Canadian Securities Administrators want to ensure that their future employers at the TMX maximize their profits from making this public information conveniently available.

Regretably, the prospectus does not give much information about the tax nature of past or expected distributions. The website isn’t much help either:

What is the tax nature of the income earned by Brookfield Renewable Partners?

Brookfield Renewable Partners is a publicly traded partnership that does not earn active business income. Instead, Brookfield Renewable Partners receives various types of investment income, such as interest, dividends, capital gains, and returns of capital, from subsidiary corporations that carry on business in various jurisdictions.

The amount of interest, dividends, capital gains, and returns of capital that is earned and then allocated to unitholders will vary depending upon the particular business unit(s) from which funds are sourced. The source of funds for the distributions will also affect how much, if any, of the distributions are subject to withholding tax.

I don’t see any historical information on their website – possibly my fault, any links anybody can supply will be appreciated – so the conservative course is to assume that everything is going to be fully taxable interest income, probably with a little Return of Capital in the mix just so you keep up on your bookkeeping skills.

Artis Real Estate Investment Trust has announced:

that is [sic] has entered into an agreement to sell to a syndicate of underwriters led by TD Securities Inc., RBC Capital Markets and Scotiabank (collectively the “Underwriters”), on a bought deal basis, 4,000,000 Cumulative Minimum Rate Reset Preferred Trust Units, Series I (“Series I Units”) at a price of $25.00 per Series I Unit (the “Issue Price”) for gross proceeds of $100,000,000 (the “Financing”). Artis has also granted the Underwriters an option, exercisable at any time up to 48 hours prior to the closing of the Financing, to purchase a further 1,000,000 Series I Units at the Issue Price, which, if fully exercised, would result in additional gross proceeds of $25,000,000.

The Series I Units will pay fixed cumulative preferential distributions of $1.50 per Series I Unit per annum, yielding 6.00% per annum, payable on the last day of January, April, July and October of each year, as and when declared by the board of trustees of Artis, for the initial period ending on April 30, 2023. The first quarterly distribution, if declared, will be payable on April 30, 2018 and will be $0.3750 per Series I Unit, based on the anticipated closing date of the Financing on January 31, 2018. The distribution rate will be reset on April 30, 2023 and every five years thereafter at a rate equal to the greater of (i) the sum of the then five year Government of Canada bond yield and 3.93% and (ii) 6.00%. The Series I Units are redeemable by Artis, at its option, on April 30, 2023 and on April 30 of every fifth year thereafter.

Holders of Series I Units will have the right to reclassify all or any part of their Series I Units as Cumulative Floating Rate Preferred Trust Units, Series J (the “Series J Units”), subject to certain conditions, on April 30, 2023 and on April 30 of every fifth year thereafter. Such reclassification privilege may be subject to certain tax considerations (to be disclosed in the prospectus supplement for the Financing). Holders of Series J Units will be entitled to receive a floating cumulative preferential distribution, payable on the last day of January, April, July and October of each year, as and when declared by the board of trustees of Artis, at a rate equal to the sum of the then 90-day Government of Canada Treasury Bill yield plus a spread of 3.93%.

DBRS Limited has assigned a provisional rating of Pfd-3 (low) to the Series I Units.

The Financing is being made pursuant to the REIT’s base shelf prospectus dated August 8, 2016. The terms of the offering will be described in a prospectus supplement to be filed with Canadian securities regulators. The Financing is expected to close on or about January 31, 2018 and is subject to regulatory approval.

Artis intends to use the net proceeds from the Financing to redeem its existing U.S. dollar denominated cumulative redeemable preferred trust units, Series C and for general trust purposes.

They later announced:

that as a result of strong investor demand for its previously announced offering, the underwriters have exercised their option to increase the size of the offering to 5,000,000 Cumulative Minimum Rate Reset Preferred Trust Units, Series I (“Series I Units”) to be offered on a bought deal basis to a syndicate of underwriters led by TD Securities Inc., RBC Capital Markets and Scotiabank (collectively the “Underwriters”). The Series I Units will be issued at a price of $25.00 per unit, for gross proceeds of $125,000,000 (the “Financing”).

The Financing is being made pursuant to the REIT’s base shelf prospectus dated August 8, 2016. The terms of the offering will be described in a prospectus supplement to be filed with Canadian securities regulators. The Financing is expected to close on or about January 31, 2018 and is subject to regulatory approval.

Artis intends to use the net proceeds from the Financing to redeem its existing U.S. dollar denominated cumulative redeemable preferred trust units, Series C and for general trust purposes.

The issue they intend to redeem is AX.PR.U, a FixedReset, 5.25%+446 US PAY ROC announced 2012-09-11 which commenced trading 2012-9-18, and which is callable at par on 2018-3-31.

The new issue looks quite expensive to me, according to Implied Volatility Analysis:

Click for Big

This perceived richness has a different source than the other issues discussed here recently, such as the BEP.PR.M issue, the CM.PR.S issue and the NA.PR.E, since the calculated level of Implied Volatility, 11%, is actually quite reasonable.

In this case, the richness is due to the extraordinarily high value that retail – fighting the last war, as always – has placed on the minimum reset guarantee. If, like me, you consider the guarantee to have little or no value, you will expect the new issue to be trading near the price of AX.PR.A, which has an Issue Reset Spread of 406bp (and a current coupon of 5.662%). However, this issue closed today at 23.61, indicating that retail considers the minimum rate guarantee to be worth somewhere around $1.50. Wow! That’s nearly double the value of the call option in this analysis!

Canoe EIT Income Fund has announced:

that it has filed and obtained a receipt for a final short form prospectus in respect of the previously announced offering of Cumulative Redeemable Series 1 Preferred Units (the “Series 1 Preferred Units”) at a price of $25.00 per Series 1 Preferred Unit (the “Offering”). The Series 1 Preferred Units were offered to the public through a syndicate of underwriters led by Scotiabank and RBC Capital Markets which also includes BMO Capital Markets, CIBC Capital Markets, National Bank Financial Inc., TD Securities Inc., Canaccord Genuity Corp., Industrial Alliance Securities Inc. and Manulife Securities Incorporated.

The Fund will issue and sell to the underwriters 4,900,000 Series 1 Preferred Units at a price of $25.00 per Series 1 Preferred Unit for total gross proceeds of the Offering of $122,500,000. The Fund has also granted the underwriters an option, exercisable at the offering price for a period of 30 days from the closing of the Offering, to purchase up to an additional 735,000 Series 1 Preferred Units to cover over-allotments, if any. The quarterly cumulative preferential cash distributions on the Series 1 Preferred Units will be 4.80% per annum. The Toronto Stock Exchange has conditionally approved the listing of the Series 1 Preferred Units under the symbol EIT.PR.A. The closing of the Offering is expected to occur on or about March 14, 2017.

The proceeds from the Offering will be invested by the Fund in accordance with its investment objectives and strategies. The Offering is expected to ensure the sustainability of the Fund by increasing the earning capacity of the units. The Series 1 Preferred Units are provisionally rated Pfd – 2 (high) by Dominion Bond Rating Service Limited.

Full details are available in the prospectus, to which I am not permitted to link because Canadian Securities Administrators take the view that you are all stupid, filthy, ignorant investor scum and do not deserve the slightest consideration whatsoever. You will have to go to SEDAR and look for “Canoe EIT Income Fund Mar 8 2017 14:21:01 ET Final short form prospectus – English PDF 266 K”.

On and after March 15, 2022, the Fund may redeem all or from time to time any part of the outstanding Series 1 Preferred Units, at the Fund’s option, at a price per Series 1 Preferred Unit equal to $25.75 if redeemed on or after March 15, 2022, but before March 15, 2023; $25.50 if redeemed on or after March 15, 2023, but before March 15, 2024; and $25.00 thereafter, together, in each case, with all accrued and unpaid distributions up to but excluding the date fixed for redemption. On or after March 15, 2024, the Series 1 Preferred Units will be retractable for cash, at the option of the holder, for $25.00 per Series 1 Preferred Unit, together with any accrued and unpaid distribution in respect of such Series 1 Preferred Units, less any tax required by law to be deducted therefrom, by notice by the holder of the Series 1 Preferred Units (“Series 1 Preferred Unitholders”) to be retracted delivered to the Manager not less than 30 days prior to the applicable retraction date. Certain other provisions relating to the Series 1 Preferred Units are summarized under “Description of the Preferred Units”

The distributions are not expected be entirely eligible dividends:

Distributions in any given period may consist of net income, net capital gains and/or returns of capital. The Fund’s income and net taxable gains for the purposes of the Tax Act will be allocated to the holders of Units and Series 1 Preferred Units in the same proportion as the distributions received by such holders. See “Principal Canadian Federal Income Tax Considerations”.

The recent historical composition of the fund’s distributions is provided in the prospectus and was reproduced in the previous post regarding this issue. I am taking the view that expected distributions will ultimately be taxed at a rate reasonably close to eligible dividends, so for analytical purposes I have recorded the issue as paying dividends.