PrefBlog

DBRS has announced that it:

maintained the Under Review with Developing Implications status on GMP Capital Inc.’s (GMP or the Company) Cumulative Preferred Shares rating of Pfd-4 (high). DBRS Morningstar has maintained this status since June 18, 2019, given the lack of clarity on the ultimate composition and financial fundamentals of the Company.
…
On August 13, 2020, GMP announced that it had entered into a definitive purchase agreement with RFGL to consolidate 100% ownership of RGMP under GMP. Under the terms of the agreement, GMP will acquire all common shares of Richardson GMP that it does not already own (65.9% stake) for a purchase price of 1.875 GMP common shares (originally two GMP common shares) per one common Richardson GMP share. Following the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, RBC Capital Markets, LLC (RBC) revised its valuation of Richardson GMP from $500 million to $420 million. Accordingly, they concluded that the common shares now carry a value between $3.55 to $4.50 (previously $4.25 to $5.15) while GMP common shares carry a value of between $2.00 to $2.55 (previously $2.20 to $2.90) on an en bloc basis.

Furthermore, GMP will pay a special dividend of $11.3 million to the preclosing GMP shareholders and will resume paying quarterly dividends on its outstanding preferred shares following the special meeting, while $36 million in retention payments will be made to Richardson GMP’s investment advisors upon closing of the transaction. Additionally, Richardson Financial will not redeem its $32 million preferred share ownership in order to invest in the growth in the new business; instead, their preferred share terms will be amended to add a right to redeem the preferred shares for cash any time following the third anniversary of closing. The DBRS Morningstar-rated Cumulative Preferred Shares will remain with the consolidated entity.

GMP has called a special meeting of common shareholders on October 6, 2020, to approve the transaction, which would require a majority of the minority shareholders (excluding RFGL) to vote in favour of the proposal. GMP will subsequently require regulatory approval from the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada. The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2020.

Following the approval of the transaction, RFGL is expected to have the largest ownership interest representing 40% of the consolidated entity. GMP shareholders and the Richardson GMP investment advisors and management would retain 31.4% and 28.5%, respectively.

KEY RATING CONSIDERATIONS
The continued Under Review period considers that even though the transaction’s parties have reached a definitive agreement the consolidation of GMP with Richardson GMP is still subject to shareholder and regulatory approval. DBRS Morningstar will assess GMP’s pro forma structure once it consolidates full ownership of Richardson GMP. This assessment will review the Company’s assets and liabilities composition, ownership, future strategic direction, and management’s ability to execute on this plan. If the consolidation were not to occur, DBRS Morningstar would need to assess GMP’s standalone intrinsic strength, including its credit fundamentals, prospects for growth, and ability to maintain debt service payments on its Cumulative Preferred Shares.

The last extension of the Review-Developing status was in June, 2020. The suspension of dividends was announced on July 31, 2020.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 19th, 2020 at 8:02 pm and is filed under Issue Comments. 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.