TSX ABO.A and ABO.B
TORONTO, Dec. 19, 2011 /CNW/ - Arbor Memorial Services Inc. ("Arbor" or the "Corporation") announced today that it has filed with the Toronto Stock Exchange ("TSX"), and the TSX has accepted, a notice of intention to make a normal course issuer bid. Under its normal course issuer bid, Arbor may purchase up to 121,274 of its Class A voting common shares (the "Class A Shares") and 384,395 Class B non-voting common shares (the "Class B Shares"), representing approximately 5% of the issued and outstanding Class A Shares and Class B Shares, respectively. As of December 9, 2011, Arbor had 2,425,497 Class A Shares issued and outstanding and 7,687,919 Class B Shares issued and outstanding, with a public float of 380,074 Class A Shares and 1,782,971 Class B Shares.
Arbor will cancel any Class A Shares and Class B Shares purchased pursuant to the normal course issuer bid. The purchases may commence on December 23, 2011 and will terminate on December 22, 2012 or on such earlier date as Arbor may complete its purchases pursuant to the notice of intention to make a normal course issuer bid filed with the TSX. Purchases will be made on the open market by Arbor through the facilities of the TSX in accordance with TSX requirements. The prices that Arbor will pay for any purchases of Class A Shares and Class B Shares will be the market price of such shares on the TSX at the time of acquisition. The Corporation will make no purchases of Class A Shares and Class B Shares other than open market purchases. Daily repurchases by Arbor will be limited to 1,000 Class A Shares and 4,691 Class B Shares, other than block purchase exceptions based on an average daily trading volume for the last six calendar months of 2,297 Class A Shares and 18,762 Class B Shares. In the preceding 12 month period, Arbor repurchased and cancelled zero Class A Shares and 404,627 Class B Shares at $23.30 per share for a total consideration of $9.4 million under the normal course issuer bid that was announced on November 1, 2010.
The Corporation believes that from time to time, the Class A Shares and Class B Shares of the Corporation trade at prices that do not reflect the underlying value of the Corporation. As a result, Arbor considers that implementing a normal course issuer bid is a prudent business decision because it offers the Corporation the opportunity to purchase shares at prices beneficial to the remaining shareholders.
