Readers are referred to the section "Forward-Looking Statements"
at the end of this release. All figures are expressed in Canadian
dollars.
MONTRÉAL, Jan. 12,
2023 /CNW Telbec/ - Power Corporation of Canada (Power Corporation or Power)
(TSX: POW) today announced that it has closed the previously
announced transaction in which Power sold its 13.9% ownership stake
in China Asset Management Co.,
Ltd. (ChinaAMC) to Mackenzie Financial Corporation, a wholly owned
subsidiary of IGM Financial Inc. (IGM or IGM Financial) (TSX: IGM),
for aggregate consideration of $1.15 billion in cash. IGM's equity
ownership in ChinaAMC is now 27.8%. Power shareholders will
continue to participate in ChinaAMC through Power's 64.9% economic
interest in IGM.
In a separate transaction, IGM sold 15,200,662 Great-West
Lifeco Inc. (Great-West Lifeco) (TSX: GWO) common shares to a
subsidiary of Power Financial Corporation (Power
Financial) for aggregate consideration of approximately
$552.7 million, being a base
purchase price of $575 million, less
quarterly dividends received by IGM with respect to the Great-West
Lifeco common shares declared after March
31, 2022 totalling $22.3
million [1]. Following the acquisition of
these additional Great-West Lifeco common shares, Power Financial
beneficially owns an aggregate of 635,450,694 Great-West
Lifeco common shares, excluding those which remain beneficially
owned by IGM, representing 68.2% of the issued and outstanding
Great-West Lifeco common shares.
"We look forward to continued participation in ChinaAMC through
our ownership of IGM," said R. Jeffrey
Orr, President and Chief Executive Officer of Power
Corporation. "We also believe this is an attractive opportunity to
both increase our ownership in Great-West Lifeco and support our
share buyback initiatives."
Power Corporation expects to return a portion of the net cash
proceeds from the transaction to its shareholders, after factoring
in the purchase of Great-West Lifeco common shares, through share
repurchases over time pursuant to a normal course issuer bid of
Power.
For additional details on the transaction, please refer to the
Power Corporation news release dated January
5, 2022.
[1] According to the terms of the transaction, the purchase
price paid by Power was adjusted for ordinary course quarterly
dividends on the Great-West Lifeco common shares declared after
March 31, 2022.
About Power Corporation
Power Corporation is an international management and holding
company that focuses on financial services in North
America, Europe and Asia. Its core holdings are
leading insurance, retirement, wealth management and investment
businesses, including a portfolio of alternative asset investment
platforms. To learn more, visit www.PowerCorporation.com.
Power Financial, a wholly owned subsidiary of Power Corporation,
is an international management and holding company with interests
in financial services and asset management businesses in
Canada, the United States and Europe. It also has significant holdings in a
portfolio of global companies based in Europe. To learn more, visit
www.PowerFinancial.com.
Forward-Looking
Statements
Certain statements in this news release, other than statements
of historical fact, are forward-looking statements based on certain
assumptions and reflect Power's current expectations.
Forward-looking statements are provided for the purposes of
assisting the reader in understanding Power's financial
performance, financial position and cash flows as at and for the
periods ended on certain dates and to present information about
management's current expectations and plans relating to the future
and the reader is cautioned that such statements may not be
appropriate for other purposes. These statements include, without
limitation, statements regarding repurchases pursuant to a normal
course issuer bid of Power. Forward-looking statements include
statements that are predictive in nature, depend upon or refer to
future events or conditions, or include words such as "expects",
"anticipates", "plans", "believes", "estimates", "seeks",
"intends", "targets", "projects", "forecasts" or negative versions
thereof and other similar expressions, or future or conditional
verbs such as "may", "will", "should", "would" and "could".
By its nature, this information is subject to inherent risks and
uncertainties that may be general or specific and which give rise
to the possibility that expectations, forecasts, predictions,
projections or conclusions will not prove to be accurate, that
assumptions may not be correct and that objectives, strategic goals
and priorities will not be achieved. A variety of factors, many of
which are beyond Power's and its subsidiaries' control, affect the
operations, performance and results of Power and its subsidiaries
and their businesses, and could cause actual results to differ
materially from current expectations of estimated or anticipated
events or results. These factors include, but are not limited to:
the impact or unanticipated impact of general economic, political
and market factors in North
America and internationally, fluctuations in interest rates,
inflation and foreign exchange rates, monetary policies, business
investment and the health of local and global equity and capital
markets, management of market liquidity and funding risks, risks
related to investments in private companies and illiquid
securities, risks associated with financial instruments, changes in
accounting policies and methods used to report financial condition
(including uncertainties associated with significant judgments,
estimates and assumptions), the effect of applying future
accounting changes, business competition, operational and
reputational risks, technological changes, cybersecurity risks,
changes in government regulation and legislation, changes in tax
laws, unexpected judicial or regulatory proceedings, catastrophic
events, man-made disasters, terrorist attacks, wars and other
conflicts (such as the invasion of Ukraine), or an outbreak of a public health
pandemic or other public health crises (such as COVID-19), Power's
and its subsidiaries' ability to complete strategic transactions,
integrate acquisitions and implement other growth strategies, and
Power's and its subsidiaries' success in anticipating and managing
the foregoing factors.
The reader is cautioned to consider these and other factors,
uncertainties and potential events carefully and not to put undue
reliance on forward-looking statements. Information contained in
forward-looking statements is based upon certain material
assumptions that were applied in drawing a conclusion or making a
forecast or projection, including management's perceptions of
historical trends, current conditions and expected future
developments, as well as other considerations that are believed to
be appropriate in the circumstances, including the availability of
cash to complete purchases under normal course issuer bid, and that
the list of factors in the preceding paragraph, collectively, are
not expected to have a material impact on Power and its
subsidiaries. While Power considers these assumptions to be
reasonable based on information currently available to management,
they may prove to be incorrect.
Other than as specifically required by applicable Canadian law,
Power undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking
statement to reflect events or circumstances after the date on
which such statement is made, or to reflect the occurrence of
unanticipated events, whether as a result of new information,
future events or results, or otherwise. Additional information
about the risks and uncertainties of Power's business and material
factors or assumptions on which information contained in
forward-looking statements is based is provided in their disclosure
materials, including Power Corporation's most recent Management's
Discussion and Analysis and Annual Information Form, filed with the
securities regulatory authorities in Canada available at www.sedar.com.
SOURCE Power Corporation of Canada