TORONTO, Dec. 21,
2022 /PRNewswire/ - EQB Inc. ("EQB" or the "Company")
(TSX: EQB) (TSX: EQB.PR.C) announced today that it has filed,
and the Toronto Stock Exchange ("TSX") has approved, notice of
EQB's intention to renew its normal course issuer bid (the "NCIB")
for Common Shares (the "Common Shares") and its Non-Cumulative
5-Year Rate Reset Preferred Shares, Series 3 (the "Preferred
Shares" together with the Common Shares, the "Shares").
The Company intends to purchase a maximum of 1,150,000 Common
Shares and 288,680 of its Preferred Shares under the terms of
the NCIB, representing, respectively, approximately 3.8% and 10% of
the public float of such shares.
As at December 9, 2022, there were
37,515,884 Common Shares issued and outstanding and the public
float was 30,257,982 Common Shares and 2,911,800 Preferred Shares
were issued and outstanding and the public float was 2,886,800
Preferred Shares, calculated in accordance with the rules of the
TSX.
Purchases under the renewed NCIB may commence on December 23, 2022 and continue until December 22, 2023, when the NCIB expires, or on
such earlier date as the NCIB is complete. The actual number of
Shares purchased under the NCIB and the timing of any such
purchases will be at the Company's discretion. Subject to the TSX's
block purchase exception, on any trading day purchases under the
NCIB will not exceed 17,117 Common Shares and 1,000 Preferred
Shares, based on an average daily trading volume of the Common
Shares and Preferred Shares from June 1,
2022 to November 30, 2022 of
68,471 and 1,261 shares respectively (rounding down and determined
in accordance with TSX polices).
The purchases made by EQB will be implemented through the
facilities of the TSX, and through alternative Canadian trading
systems, in accordance with TSX rules. Any Shares purchased by the
Company will be cancelled.
The Company's board of directors has authorized the NCIB because
it believes that, from time to time, the market price of Shares may
be such that their purchase may be an attractive and appropriate
use of corporate funds. The NCIB will provide the Company with
additional flexibility to manage capital and generate value for
shareholders. Decisions regarding the timing of future purchases of
Shares will be based on market conditions, share price and other
factors. Although EQB has a present intention to acquire its Shares
pursuant to the NCIB, EQB will not be obligated to make any
purchases and purchases may be suspended at any time.
In connection with the NCIB, the Company has entered into a
share purchase plan (the "Plan") to facilitate the purchase of
Preferred Shares pursuant to the bid and under which its broker may
purchase Shares according to a prearranged set of criteria. If
implemented, the Plan will enable the purchase of Shares at any
time, including when the Company would not ordinarily be active in
the market because of internal trading blackout periods, insider
trading rules or otherwise.
Under its existing NCIB, the Company repurchased 7,600 Preferred
Shares through the facilities of the TSX and alternative Canadian
trading systems at a weighted-average price of approximately
$24.92 per Preferred Share for total
cash consideration of $189,436.99
(including commission). No Common Shares were repurchased under the
previous NCIB.
About EQB Inc.
EQB Inc. trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX: EQB and
EQB.PR.C) and serves more than 370,000 people across Canada through its wholly owned subsidiary
Equitable Bank, Canada's
Challenger Bank™. Equitable Bank's wholly owned subsidiary
Concentra Bank supports credit unions across Canada that serve more than 5 million members.
Equitable Bank has over $100 billion
in combined assets under management and administration, with a
clear mandate to drive change in Canadian banking to enrich
people's lives. Founded over 50 years ago, Canada's Challenger Bank™ provides diversified
personal and commercial banking and through its EQ Bank platform
(eqbank.ca) has been named the top Schedule I Bank in Canada on the Forbes World's Best Banks 2022
and 2021 lists. Please visit equitablebank.ca for details.
Investor
contact:
Richard Gill
Vice President, Corporate Development & Investor Relations
investor_enquiry@eqbank.ca
|
Media
contact:
Jessica Kosmack
Senior Manager, Communications
jkosmack@eqbank.ca
|
Forward-looking Statements
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
Statements made in the sections of this news release, in
other filings with Canadian securities regulators and in other
communications include forward-looking statements within the
meaning of applicable securities laws (forward-looking
statements). These statements include, but are not limited
to, statements about the Company's objectives, strategies and
initiatives, financial performance expectations and other
statements made herein, whether with respect to the Company's
businesses or the Canadian economy. Generally,
forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of
forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "expects" or "does not
expect", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "planned",
"estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not
anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases
which state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could",
"would", "might" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved", or
other similar expressions of future or conditional verbs.
Forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks,
uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results,
level of activity, closing of transactions, performance or
achievements of the Company to be materially different from those
expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, including
but not limited to risks related to capital markets and additional
funding requirements, business integration risks, fluctuating
interest rates and general economic conditions, legislative and
regulatory developments, changes in accounting standards, the
nature of our customers and rates of default, the number of Shares
ultimately available to be purchased pursuant to the NCIB and the
intention of the directors and officers of the Company to sell
Shares pursuant to the NCIB. and competition as well as those
factors discussed under the heading "Risk Management" in the
MD&A and in the Company's documents filed on SEDAR at
www.sedar.com.
Forward-looking statements in this news release include, but
are not limited to: the commencement of the NCIB by the Company;
the number of Shares ultimately available to be purchased by the
Company pursuant to the NCIB and the purchase price of such Shares;
the Company's entrance into the Plan; and the intention of the
directors and officers of the Company to sell Shares pursuant to
the NCIB. Such forward-looking statements are based on a number of
material factors and assumptions, including, but not limited to:
that the Company will purchase Shares pursuant to the NCIB;
assumptions in respect of the price of the Company's Shares; that
the directors and officers of the Company will not sell Shares
pursuant to the NCIB; general economic conditions; and that
there is no material adverse change in the price of gold or other
metals.
All material assumptions used in making forward-looking
statements are based on management's knowledge of current business
conditions and expectations of future business conditions and
trends, including their knowledge of the current credit, interest
rate and liquidity conditions affecting the Company and the
Canadian economy. Although the Company believes the
assumptions used to make such statements are reasonable at this
time and has attempted to identify in its continuous disclosure
documents important factors that could cause actual results to
differ materially from those contained in forward-looking
statements, there may be other factors that cause results not to be
as anticipated, estimated or intended. Certain material
assumptions are applied by the Bank in making forward-looking
statements, including without limitation, assumptions regarding its
continued ability to fund its mortgage business, a continuation of
the current level of economic uncertainty that affects real estate
market conditions, continued acceptance of its products in the
marketplace, as well as no material changes in its operating cost
structure and the current tax regime. There can be no
assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual
results and future events could differ materially from those
anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should
not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The
Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements
that are contained herein, except in accordance with applicable
securities laws.
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SOURCE EQB Inc.