Intact Financial Corporation has announced (although not yet on their website):
that it has entered into an agreement with a syndicate of underwriters led by TD Securities Inc. together with BMO Capital Markets, CIBC Capital Markets and National Bank Financial pursuant to which the underwriters have agreed to purchase, on a bought deal basis, 8,000,000 Non-Cumulative Rate Reset Class A Shares, Series 7 (the “Series 7 Preferred Shares”) from Intact for sale to the public at a price of $25.00 per Series 7 Preferred Share, representing aggregate gross proceeds of $200 million.
Intact has granted the underwriters an underwriters’ option to purchase up to an additional 2,000,000 Series 7 Preferred Shares at the same offering price exercisable in whole or in part, at any time before 8:30am on the date that is two (2) business days prior to closing. Should the underwriters’ option be fully exercised, the total gross proceeds of the Series 7 Preferred Shares offering will be $250 million. The net proceeds will be used for general corporate purposes.
The holders of Series 7 Preferred Shares will be entitled to receive fixed non-cumulative preferential cash dividends, as and when declared by the Board of Directors of Intact, on a quarterly basis (with the first quarterly dividend, covering the period from issuance to September 30, 2018, to be paid on September 28, 2018), for the initial fixed rate period ending on June 30, 2023, based on an annual rate of 4.90%. The dividend rate will be reset on June 30, 2023 and every five years thereafter at a rate equal to the 5-year Government of Canada bond yield plus 2.55%.
Holders of the Series 7 Preferred Shares will have the right, at their option, to convert their Series 7 Preferred Shares into Non-cumulative Floating Rate Class A Shares, Series 8 (the “Series 8 Preferred Shares”), subject to certain conditions, on June 30, 2023 and on June 30 every five years thereafter. The holders of Series 8 Preferred Shares will be entitled to receive floating rate non-cumulative preferential cash dividends, as and when declared by the Board of Directors of Intact, at a rate equal to the 90-day Canadian Treasury Bill rate plus 2.55%.
DBRS Limited has assigned a provisional rating of Pfd-2 for the Series 7 Preferred Shares.
The Series 7 Preferred Shares will be offered for sale to the public in each of the provinces and territories of Canada pursuant to a prospectus supplement to be filed with the Canadian securities regulatory authorities. The offering is scheduled to close on or about May 29, 2018.
As this issue is not NVCC compliant, it will be analyzed as having a Deemed Retraction. Note, however, that this carries more uncertainty than it does with most other insurers because Intact is a P&C insurer, not a life company.
This issue was announced almost simultaneously with a new issue from Emera Incorporated, a FixedReset 4.90%+254M490. Barry Critchley remarks:
While the two deals shared similar terms, investors treated them differently. By early afternoon only Intact’s order was completely filled. But sources indicated investors could still post expressions of interest for the Emera offering. On TD Investing’s website, the offering is indicated as open.
