PrefBlog

Quadravest has announced:

Dividend 15 Split Corp. II (“Dividend 15 II”) is pleased to announce that it has filed a short form prospectus in each of the provinces of Canada with respect to an additional offering of Preferred Shares and Class A Shares of the Company. The offering will be co-led by National Bank Financial Inc., CIBC World Markets Inc. and RBC Capital Markets.

The Preferred Shares will be offered at a price of $10.00 per Preferred Share to yield 5.25% and the Class A Shares will be offered at a price of $8.25 per Class A Share to yield 13.51%. The closing price of each of the Preferred Shares and the Class A Shares on November 15, 2013 on the TSX was $8.88 and $10.12, respectively.

The proceeds of the secondary offering, net of expenses and the Agents’ fee, will be used by the Company to invest in an actively managed portfolio of dividend-yielding common shares which includes each of the 15 Canadian companies listed below. These are currently among the highest dividend-yielding securities in the S&P/TSX 60 Index:

Bank of Montreal	Enbridge Inc.	TELUS Corporation
The Bank of Nova Scotia	Manulife Financial Corp.	Thomson-Reuters Corporation
BCE Inc.	National Bank of Canada	The Toronto-Dominion Bank
Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce	Royal Bank of Canada	TransAlta Corporation
CI Financial Corp.	Sun Life Financial Inc.	TransCanada Corporation

The Company’s investment objectives are:

Preferred Shares:
i. to provide holders of the Preferred Shares with fixed, cumulative preferential monthly cash dividends in the amount of $0.04375 per Preferred Share to yield 5.25% per annum on the original issue price; and
ii. on or about December 1, 2019, to pay the holders of the Preferred Shares the original issue price of those shares.

Class A Shares:
i. to provide holders of the Class A Shares with regular monthly cash dividends initially targeted to be $0.10 per Class A; and
ii. on or about December 1, 2019, to pay the holders of Class A Shares at least the original issue price of those shares.

The sales period of this overnight offering will end at 9:00 a.m. EST on November 19, 2013.

A copy of the preliminary short form prospectus is available from the syndicate of underwriters.

Commissions, trailing commissions, management fees and expenses all may be associated with mutual fund investments. Investors should read the prospectus before investing. Mutual funds are not guaranteed, their values change frequently and past performance may not be repeated.

DF.PR.A was last mentioned on PrefBlog when it was confirmed at Pfd-3(low) by DBRS. DF.PR.A is tracked by HIMIPref™ but is relegated to the Scraps index on credit concerns.

Brompton Group has announced:

Life & Banc Split Corp. (the “Company”) is pleased to announce it has filed a preliminary short form prospectus with respect to a treasury offering of class A shares and preferred shares.

Life & Banc Split Corp. invests in a portfolio of common shares of the six largest Canadian banks (“Banks”) and the four major publicly traded Canadian life insurance companies (“Lifecos”). Currently, the portfolio consists of common shares of the following Banks and Lifecos:

The Bank of Nova Scotia	Royal Bank of Canada
National Bank of Canada	Industrial Alliance Insurance and Financial Services Inc.
The Toronto-Dominion Bank	Great-West Lifeco Inc.
Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce	Manulife Financial Corporation
Bank of Montreal	Sun Life Financial Inc.

The investment objectives for the class A shares are to provide holders with regular monthly cash distributions targeted to be $0.10 per class A share and to provide the opportunity for growth in net asset value per class A share.

The investment objectives for the preferred shares are to provide holders with fixed cumulative preferential quarterly cash distributions in the amount of $0.475 per annum paid in equal quarterly amounts, representing a yield on the $10.00 par value of the preferred shares of 4.75% per annum, and to return the original issue price to holders of preferred shares on the current maturity date of November 29, 2018.

The syndicate of agents for the offering is being led by RBC Capital Markets, CIBC, Scotiabank, and TD Securities Inc., and includes BMO Capital Markets, National Bank Financial Inc., GMP Securities L.P., Raymond James Ltd., Canaccord Genuity Corp., Desjardins Securities Inc., Dundee Securities Ltd., and Mackie Research Capital Corporation.

LBS.PR.A was last mentioned on PrefBlog when the new dividend rate on the preferreds, 4.75%, was announced. LBS.PR.A is tracked by HIMIPref™ but is relegated to the Scraps index on credit concerns.

Update, 2013-11-22:Priced.

Life & Banc Split Corp. (the “Company”) is pleased to announce that the Company’s treasury offering of class A and preferred shares has been priced at $10.31 per class A share and $10.09 per preferred share. The final class A share and preferred share offering prices were determined so as to be non-dilutive to the most recent calculated net asset value per unit of the Company on November 21, 2013, as adjusted for dividends, certain expenses accrued prior to or upon settlement of the offering, and voluntary payment of certain costs of the offering by the Manager

Manulife Financial Corp. has announced:

Manulife Asset Management Limited, the manager (the “Manager”) of Copernican World Banks Split Inc. (TSX: CBW.PR.A; CBW) (the “Fund”), today announced that securityholders have approved a special resolution proposed by the Manager.

By approving the special resolution, securityholders have approved the following:

• Extending the scheduled final redemption date for Preferred Shares and Class A Shares of the Fund from December 2, 2013 to December 2, 2018;
• Providing a special retraction right (the “Special Retraction Right”) to holders of Preferred Shares and Class A Shares of the Fund to enable them to retract their Shares on December 2, 2013 in a manner calculated on the same basis as would have applied had the Fund redeemed all Preferred Shares and Class A Shares in accordance with its existing terms;
• Providing for further extensions of additional terms of approximately five years each, if the Board of Directors of the Fund so determines, and providing holders of Preferred Shares and Class A Shares with a continuing special retraction right (the “Continuing Special Retraction Right”), beginning on December 2, 2018 or on such other date as may be determined by the Board of Directors of the Fund, in connection with such extension;
• Providing a special redemption right to the Fund in connection with the Special Retraction Right and Continuing Special Retraction Right that would permit the Fund to redeem Class A Shares and Preferred Shares on a pro rata basis, or take such other action as the Board of Directors of the Fund so determines, to maintain the same number of Class A Shares and Preferred Shares outstanding;
• Amending the management agreement effective December 1, 2013 for the Fund to provide for a reduction in the management fees paid to the Manager from the current 1.95% per annum of the net asset value (“NAV”) of the Fund (plus applicable taxes) to 1.65% per annum of the NAV of the Fund (plus applicable taxes);
• Broadening the investment strategy and removing an investment restriction for the Fund; and
• Permitting the Fund to be terminated prior to any scheduled final redemption date if the Preferred Shares or Class A Shares are delisted from the Toronto Stock Exchange or if the NAV of the Fund declines to less than $5 million for a period of 60 consecutive business days.

The fund has a NAVPU of $4.56 to cover a preferred share liability of $10.00 and furthermore sports a management fee of 1.65% as disclosed in the press release. Then there’s expenses on top of that, of about 2% p.a. according to a quick glance at their semi-annual report (the manager did absorb some expenses, essentially refunding their fee).

It’s not worth it. Two-points-plus is not worth it for what is essentially a mutual fund with a cap placed on possible gains (as the Capital Unitholders will get all value in excess of $10). I recommend holders exercise their retraction rights – but be quick! There’s not much time! According to the Management Information Circular (SEDAR, 2013-10-16):

To participate in the Special Retraction Right, Preferred Shares and Class A Shares must be surrendered during the period beginning on November 18, 2013 and ending on November 25, 2013 (the “Special Retraction Notice Period”) for retraction by the registered Shareholder to Computershare Investor Services Inc. in Toronto, Ontario (“Computershare” or “Transfer Agent”), as registrar and transfer agent, subject to the Funds’ right to suspend retractions (described below)

CBW.PR.A was last mentioned on PrefBlog when the term extension was proposed. CBW.PR.A is not tracked by HIMIPref™.

Manulife Financial Corporation has announced:

Manulife Asset Management Limited, the manager (the “Manager”) of Copernican International Financial Split Corp. (TSX: CIR.PR.A; CIR) (the “Fund”), today announced that securityholders have approved a special resolution proposed by the Manager.

By approving the special resolution, securityholders have approved the following:

• Extending the scheduled final redemption date for Preferred Shares and Class A Shares of the Fund from December 2, 2013 to December 2, 2018;
• Providing a special retraction right (the “Special Retraction Right”) to holders of Preferred Shares and Class A Shares of the Fund to enable them to retract their Shares on December 2, 2013 in a manner calculated on the same basis as would have applied had the Fund redeemed all Preferred Shares and Class A Shares in accordance with its existing terms;
• Providing for further extensions of additional terms of approximately five years each, if the Board of Directors of the Fund so determines, and providing holders of Preferred Shares and Class A Shares with a continuing special retraction right (the “Continuing Special Retraction Right”), beginning on December 2, 2018 or on such other date as may be determined by the Board of Directors of the Fund, in connection with such extension;
• Providing a special redemption right to the Fund in connection with the Special Retraction Right and Continuing Special Retraction Right that would permit the Fund to redeem Class A Shares and Preferred Shares on a pro rata basis, or take such other action as the Board of Directors of the Fund so determines, to maintain the same number of Class A Shares and Preferred Shares outstanding;
• Amending the management agreement effective December 1, 2013 for the Fund to provide for a reduction in the management fees paid to the Manager from the current 1.95% per annum of the net asset value (“NAV”) of the Fund (plus applicable taxes) to 1.65% per annum of the NAV of the Fund (plus applicable taxes);
• Broadening the investment strategy and removing an investment restriction for the Fund; and
• Permitting the Fund to be terminated prior to any scheduled final redemption date if the Preferred Shares or Class A Shares are delisted from the Toronto Stock Exchange or if the NAV of the Fund declines to less than $5 million for a period of 60 consecutive business days.

The fund has a NAVPU of $6.27 to cover the preferred share obligation of $10.00 and furthermore sports a management fee of 1.65% as disclosed in the press release and has expenses of about 50bp on top of that, according to a quick scan of their semi-Annual Report.

It’s not worth it. Two-points-plus is not worth it for what is essentially a mutual fund with a cap placed on possible gains (as the Capital Unitholders will get all value in excess of $10). I recommend holders exercise their retraction rights – but be quick! There’s not much time! According to the Management Information Circular (SEDAR, 2013-10-16):

To participate in the Special Retraction Right, Preferred Shares and Class A Shares must be surrendered during the period beginning on November 18, 2013 and ending on November 25, 2013 (the “Special Retraction Notice Period”) for retraction by the registered Shareholder to Computershare Investor Services Inc. in Toronto, Ontario (“Computershare” or “Transfer Agent”), as registrar and transfer agent, subject to the Funds’ right to suspend retractions (described below).

CIR.PR.A was last mentioned on PrefBlog when the term extension was proposed. CIR.PR.A is not tracked by HIMIPref™.