Month: November 2025

Normal Course Issuer Bids in the preferred share marketplace are usually more noise than signal, but not all the time! BCE has announced (on 2025-11-6):

that the Toronto Stock Exchange (the “TSX”) has accepted a notice filed by BCE of its intention to renew its normal course issuer bid (“NCIB”) to purchase up to 10% of the public float of each series of BCE’s outstanding First Preferred Shares that are listed on the TSX (the “Preferred Shares”). The period of the NCIB will extend from November 11, 2025 to November 10, 2026, or an earlier date should BCE complete its purchases under the NCIB. BCE will pay the prevailing market price at the time of acquisition for any Preferred Shares purchased plus brokerage fees payable by BCE (except with respect to purchases made under an issuer bid exemption order, which will be at a discount to the prevailing market price), and all Preferred Shares acquired by BCE under the NCIB will be cancelled.

The actual number of Preferred Shares repurchased under the NCIB and the timing of such repurchases will be at BCE’s discretion and shall be subject to the limitations set out in the TSX Company Manual.
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As of October 31, 2025, under its current normal course issuer bid that commenced on November 11, 2024 and will expire on November 10, 2025, and for which the company received approval from the TSX, BCE purchased, through the facilities of the TSX and alternative eligible trading systems, Preferred Shares as follows: [see below — JH]

So according to this,they spent just over $175-million. That’s significant!

BCE Inc. has announced:

BCE.PR.R is a FixedFloater that reset to 4.490% in 2010 with no conversion to RatchetRate. It reset to 4.13% in 2015, and to 3.018% effective 2020-12-1 with no conversion to its potential RatchetRate counterpart, BCE.PR.Q.

Update, 2025-11-21: As pointed out by Assiduous Reader skeptical111 in the comments, BCE has announced:

that none of its fixed rate Cumulative Redeemable First Preferred Shares, Series R (Series R Preferred Shares) will be converted into floating rate Cumulative Redeemable First Preferred Shares, Series Q (Series Q Preferred Shares) on December 1, 2025.

On October 17, 2025, BCE notified holders of Series R Preferred Shares that they could elect to convert their shares into Series Q Preferred Shares subject to the terms and conditions attached to those shares. Only 6,025 of BCE’s 7,115,900 Series R Preferred Shares were tendered for conversion on December 1, 2025 into Series Q Preferred Shares. As this would result in there being less than one million Series Q Preferred Shares outstanding, no Series R Preferred Shares will, as per the terms and conditions attached to those shares, be converted on December 1, 2025 into Series Q Preferred Shares. Shareholders who had elected to convert their Series R Preferred Shares will be receiving, by December 1, 2025, share certificates representing the number of Series R Preferred Shares tendered for conversion.

The Series R Preferred Shares will continue to be listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol BCE.PR.R. The Series R Preferred Shares will pay on a quarterly basis, for the five-year period beginning on December 1, 2025, as and when declared by the Board of Directors of BCE, a fixed cash dividend based on an annual dividend rate of 4.733%.

ECN Capital Corp. has announced:

that it has entered into a definitive arrangement agreement dated November 13, 2025 (the “Arrangement Agreement”) to be acquired by a newly formed acquisition vehicle (the “Purchaser”), controlled by an investor group led by Warburg Pincus LLC (the “Purchaser Group”), pursuant to which the Purchaser will acquire (i) all of the issued and outstanding common shares of the Company (the “Common Shares”) for C$3.10 per Common Share, in cash, (ii) all of the issued and outstanding cumulative 5-year minimum rate reset preferred shares, Series C of the Company (the “Series C Shares”) for C$26.00 per share, in cash (plus all accrued but unpaid dividends thereon); and (iii) all of the issued and outstanding mandatory convertible preferred shares, Series E of the Company (the “Series E Shares”), of which Champion Homes, Inc. (“Champion Homes”) is the sole owner, for C$3.10 per share, in cash (plus all accrued but unpaid dividends thereon) (the “Transaction”).
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The price per Series C Share represents a premium of approximately 11% to the closing price on the TSX of the Series C Shares on November 12, 2025 and a premium of approximately 11% to the 10-day volume weighted average trading price per Series C Share as of that date, in addition to the payment of accrued and unpaid dividends.
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The Transaction will be implemented by way of a statutory plan of arrangement under the Business Corporations Act (Ontario). Implementation of the Transaction will be subject to, among other things, the receipt of the shareholder approvals described below, court approval and customary closing conditions, including the receipt of certain key regulatory approvals. The Transaction is not subject to any financing condition.

The Transaction is subject to the approval by (i) at least 66 2/3% of the votes cast by the Common Shareholders and Series E Shareholders present or represented by proxy at the Meeting, voting together as a single class; and (ii) if required, a simple majority of the votes cast by the Common Shareholders present or represented by proxy at the Meeting (excluding the Common Shares owned and/or controlled, by any shareholders required to be excluded under Multilateral Instrument 61-101 – Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions (“MI 61-101”)). The acquisition of the Series C Shares is conditional upon (i) the approval of at least 66 2/3% of the votes cast by the Series C Shareholders present or represented by proxy at the Meeting and (ii) if required, a simple majority of the votes cast by the Series C Shareholders present or represented by Proxy at the Meeting (excluding votes of any Series C Shareholders required to be excluded under MI 61-101). Completion of the Arrangement is not conditional upon obtaining approval from the Series C Shareholders and if the requisite approvals are not obtained, the Series C Shares will remain outstanding following closing of the Transaction in accordance with their terms.

ECN.PR.C was issued as a FixedReset, 6.25%+519M625, that commenced trading 2017-5-25 after being announced 2017-5-15. It reset to 7.937% in 2022. It is tracked by HIMIPref™ but relegated to the Scraps subindex on credit concerns.

Thanks to Assiduous Reader John19 for bringing this to my attention!

Intact Financial Corporation has announced:

that it has closed its previously announced bought deal offering (the “Offering”) of Non-Cumulative Class A Shares, Series 13 (the “Series 13 Preferred Shares”) underwritten by a syndicate of underwriters led by BMO Capital Markets and National Bank Capital Markets, as joint bookrunners, together with, CIBC Capital Markets, TD Securities, Scotiabank and RBC Capital Markets, resulting in aggregate gross proceeds to Intact of $150 million. The net proceeds are expected to be used by Intact for general corporate purposes.

Each Series 13 Preferred Share entitles the holder thereof to receive quarterly non-cumulative preferential cash dividends, if, as and when declared by the Board of Directors, on the last day of March, June, September and December in each year at a rate equal to $0.34375 per share. The initial dividend, if declared, will be paid on March 31, 2026 and will be $0.5236 per share.

The Series 13 Preferred Shares will commence trading today on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol IFC.PR.M.

IFC.PR.M is a Straight Perpetual, 5.50%, annnounced 2025-11-6.

The issue traded 546,100 shares today on the Toronto Exchange (674,960 consolidated) in a range of 25.00-11 before closing at 25.02-06. IFC.PR.M will be tracked by HIMIPref™ and has been assigned to the PerpetualPremium subindex.

Vital statistics are: