TORONTO, Aug. 3, 2021 /CNW/ - Equitable Group Inc.
(TSX: EQB) (TSX: EQB.PR.C) today announced it has called a
special meeting of shareholders (the "meeting") to approve a
2-for-1 share split of its common shares. At the meeting,
shareholders will be asked to approve an amendment to the company's
articles to the split.
The meeting will be held in a virtual-only format on
October 5, 2021 at 10 a.m. (Eastern time) for shareholders of record
on August 26, 2021. The Notice and
Access Document which details the particulars of the meeting and
the related management Information circular will be available on
www.sedar.com on or before August 31,
2021.
"We have studied the electronic trading and volatility patterns
for our stock, and we believe this can contribute to reducing
bid-ask spreads and increase inventory at brokerages, while
expanding accessibility for retail investors," said Chadwick Westlake, Chief Financial Officer
of Equitable. "We believe our stock continues to trade at a
material discount, and this should create value for our
shareholders, and some of our largest investors have expressed
their early intent to approve this proposal."
If approved by shareholders and the Toronto Stock Exchange
("TSX") and implemented by our Board of Directors, shareholders
will be entitled to one additional common share for each common
share held at a date to be approved by our Board of Directors after
such approvals.
"Our growth and performance over the last few years has been
excellent, and is reflected in our share price as we are currently
the highest among all other Canadian banks," Westlake continued.
"We expect and hope to be able to continue this strong performance
after the split and in the years ahead as we drive change in
Canadian banking to enrich people's lives."
The September 30, 2021 dividend
payment announced on July 28, 2021
will not be affected by the proposed 2-for-1 share split. If the
share split receives shareholder and regulatory approval and is
implemented by the Board of Directors, all subsequent dividends
after the split approved by our Board of Directors are expected to
reflect the 2-for-1 share split.
This requires approval of holders representing at least
two-thirds of the company's common shares that vote at the meeting,
and remains subject to approval by the TSX.
More information about online participation will be available in
our Virtual User Guide, which will be available
at www.equitablebank.ca and at Envision at
www.envisionreports.com/EQBSpecial2021 in advance of the
meeting date.
About Equitable
Equitable Group Inc. ("Equitable") trades on the Toronto Stock
Exchange (TSX: EQB and EQB.PR.C) and serves nearly three hundred
thousand Canadians through its wholly-owned subsidiary Equitable
Bank, Canada's Challenger Bank™.
Equitable Bank (the "Bank") has grown to become the country's
eighth largest independent Schedule I bank with a clear mandate to
drive real change in Canadian banking to enrich people's lives.
Founded over 50 years ago, Equitable Bank provides diversified
personal and commercial banking and through its EQ Bank platform
(eqbank.ca) has been named #1 Bank in Canada on the Forbes World's Best Banks 2021
list. Please visit equitablebank.ca for details.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
Statements made by 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 Equitable and the Bank's objectives, strategies and
initiatives, financial performance expectations and other
statements made herein, whether with respect to Equitable's
businesses or the Canadian economy.
In particular, this news release contains forward-looking
information relating to the timing of the meeting and the
anticipated impact of a two-for-one share split on our common
shares and future dividend payments.
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 Equitable or the Bank to be materially different
from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements,
including but not limited to risks associated with the ability of
Equitable to obtain the required shareholder and regulatory
approvals to complete the share split, to capital markets and
additional funding requirements, fluctuating interest rates and
general economic conditions, legislative and regulatory
developments, changes in accounting standards, the nature of our
customers and rates of default, and competition as well as those
factors discussed under the heading "Risk Management" in the
MD&A and in Equitable's documents filed on SEDAR at
www.sedar.com. 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 Equitable
and the Canadian economy. Although Equitable 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 Equitable 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.
Equitable does not undertake to update any forward-looking
statements that are contained herein, except in accordance with
applicable securities laws.
SOURCE Equitable Group Inc.