PrefBlog

Brookfield Office Properties has announced:

that it has agreed to issue to a syndicate of underwriters led by RBC Capital Markets, CIBC, Scotia Capital Inc. and TD Securities Inc., for distribution to the public, eight million Class AAA Preferred Shares, Series R. The Preferred Shares, Series R will be issued at a price of C$25.00 per share, for aggregate proceeds of C$200 million. Holders of the Preferred Shares, Series R will be entitled to receive a cumulative quarterly fixed dividend yielding 5.10% annually for the initial 5-year period ending September 30, 2016. Thereafter, the dividend rate will be reset every five years at a rate equal to the five-year Government of Canada bond yield plus 3.48%.

Holders of Preferred Shares, Series R will have the right, at their option, to convert their shares into cumulative Preferred Shares, Series S, subject to certain conditions, on September 30, 2016 and on September 30 every five years thereafter. Holders of Preferred Shares, Series S will be entitled to receive cumulative quarterly floating dividends at a rate equal to the 90-day Government of Canada Treasury Bill yield plus 3.48%.

Brookfield Office Properties has granted the underwriters an option, exercisable in whole or in part anytime up to two business days prior to closing, to purchase an additional two million Preferred Shares, Series R at the same offering price. Should the option be fully exercised, the total gross proceeds of the financing will be C$250 million.

The Preferred Shares, Series R will be offered by way of a prospectus supplement to the short-form base shelf prospectus of Brookfield Office Properties dated December 15, 2009. The prospectus supplement will be filed with securities regulatory authorities in all provinces of Canada.

The net proceeds of the issue will be added to the general funds of Brookfield Office Properties and be used for general corporate purposes, including, but not limited to, the repayment or refinancing of debt, acquisitions, capital expenditures and working capital needs. The offering is expected to close on or about September 2, 2011.

Update, 2011-8-26: P-3(high) from S&P:

• We assigned our ‘BB+’ global scale rating and our ‘P-3 (High)’ Canadian national scale rating to Brookfield Office Properties Inc.’s new 5.1% C$200 million series R preferred share issue.
• The preferred shares will be listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
• Our ratings on Brookfield acknowledge its good-quality office portfolio, long-term leases, and in-place rents that are, on average, below current market rents.

This entry was posted on Thursday, August 25th, 2011 at 12:34 pm and is filed under New Issues. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.