BCE has announced:
that 2,957,474 of its 10,081,586 fixed-rate Cumulative Redeemable First Preferred Shares, Series AA (series AA preferred shares) have been tendered for conversion on September 1, 2012, on a one-for-one basis, into floating-rate Cumulative Redeemable First Preferred Shares, Series AB (series AB preferred shares). In addition, 3,020,190 of its 9,918,414 series AB preferred shares have been tendered for conversion on September 1, 2012, on a one-for-one basis, into series AA preferred shares. Consequently, on September 1, 2012, BCE will have 10,144,302 series AA preferred shares and 9,855,698 series AB preferred shares issued and outstanding. The series AA preferred shares and the series AB preferred shares will continue to be listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbols BCE.PR.A and BCE.PR.B, respectively.
The series AA preferred shares will pay on a quarterly basis, for the five-year period beginning on September 1, 2012, as and when declared by the Board of Directors of BCE, a fixed cash dividend based on an annual fixed dividend rate of 3.45%.
The series AB preferred shares will continue to pay a monthly floating adjustable cash dividend for the five-year period beginning on September 1, 2012, as and when declared by the Board of Directors of BCE. The monthly floating adjustable dividend for any particular month will continue to be calculated based on the prime rate for such month and using the Designated Percentage for such month representing the sum of an adjustment factor (based on the market price of the series AB preferred shares in the preceding month) and the Designated Percentage for the preceding month.
I’m surprised to see that so many BCE.PR.A remain, particularly since I recommended conversion to BCE.PR.B. But that’s what makes a market!
Both BCE.PR.A and BCE.PR.B are tracked by HIMIPref™; both are relegated to the Scraps index on credit concerns.
[…] half were converted to the RatchetRate BCE.PR.B.. It then reset to 3.45% in 2012 and there was a small net conversion back to the FixedFloater. It reset to 3.61% in 2017 and there was a 6% net conversion in the […]