TSX:GWO
WINNIPEG, MB, Jan. 2, 2025 /CNW/ - Great-West Lifeco Inc. (the
"Corporation") announced today that it has received approval from
the Toronto Stock Exchange ("TSX") for the renewal of its Normal
Course Issuer Bid ("NCIB").
Under the renewed NCIB, the Corporation may purchase for
cancellation up to 20,000,000 common shares ("Common Shares"),
representing approximately 2.15% of its 932,107,643 issued and
outstanding Common Shares on December 23, 2024. The term of
the NCIB will commence on January 6,
2025 and continue until January 5,
2026, when the bid expires, or such earlier date as the
Corporation completes its purchases pursuant to the notice of
intention filed with the TSX. The average daily trading volume
during the six-month period preceding December 23, 2024 was 2,878,466 Common
Shares (excluding purchases by the Corporation under its automatic
share purchase plan). Consequently, daily purchases will be limited
to 719,616 Common Shares, subject to the TSX rules permitting block
purchases. Purchases may be made through the facilities of the TSX
and alternative Canadian trading systems or by such other means as
may be permitted under applicable law. The price paid for any such
repurchased shares will be the prevailing market prices at the time
of acquisition. Any Common Shares purchased by the Corporation
pursuant to the NCIB will be cancelled. Purchases under the NCIB
will be made by the Corporation's broker based upon the parameters
prescribed by the TSX and by applicable law.
The Corporation also announced that it will be entering into an
automatic purchase plan ("ASPP") with a designated broker. The ASPP
is intended to facilitate repurchases of Common Shares under the
NCIB, including at times when the Corporation would ordinarily not
be permitted to make purchases due to regulatory restrictions or
self-imposed blackout periods. Purchases will be made by the
Corporation's broker at its sole discretion based on parameters set
by the Corporation in accordance with TSX rules, applicable law and
the terms of the parties' written agreement. All purchases of
Common Shares made under the ASPP will be included in determining
the number of Common Shares purchased under the NCIB.
The Corporation's Board of Directors has authorized the renewed
NCIB because, in the Board's opinion, such purchases constitute an
appropriate use of funds which will benefit both the Corporation
and its shareholders. The Corporation will utilize the renewed NCIB
to acquire Common Shares in order to mitigate the dilutive effect
of issuing securities under the Corporation's Stock Option Plan and
for other capital management purposes.
Under its prior NCIB, the Corporation received approval from the
TSX to purchase up to 20,000,000 common shares for the period of
January 29, 2024 to January 28, 2025. The Corporation purchased
2,700,000 Common Shares at the weighted average price of
$42.32 under its prior NCIB. A
non-independent trustee purchased 151,934 Common Shares which were
required to be counted against the NCIB limits in accordance with
section 629(j) of the TSX Company Manual, with no impact on the
number of shares outstanding. Those Common Shares were bought at
the weighted average price of $42.79.
Pursuant to TSX requirements, the Corporation has terminated the
2024 NCIB effective today. As a result, the 2,851,934 Common Shares
purchased under the 2024 NCIB will be deducted from the annual TSX
limit applicable to the renewed NCIB.
About Great-West Lifeco Inc.
Great-West Lifeco is a
Canadian headquartered, international financial services holding
company with interests in life insurance, health insurance,
retirement and investment services, asset management and
reinsurance businesses. We operate in Canada, the United
States and Europe under the
brands Canada Life, Empower, and Irish
Life. At the start of 2024, our companies had over 32,250
employees, 106,000 advisor relationships, and thousands of
distribution partners – serving approximately 40 million customer
relationships. Great-West Lifeco trades on the Toronto (TSX) Stock Exchange under the ticker
symbol GWO and is a member of the Power Corporation group of
companies.
SOURCE Great-West Lifeco Inc.
