VANCOUVER – Telus is moving forward with its court-approved exchange of its non-voting shares for common shares on a one-for-one basis. The plan becomes effective at 12:01 a.m. (PDT) on February 4, 2013. It also announced that Mason Capital Management and Telus have agreed to abandon all litigation relating to the court approved plan of arrangement. The agreement does not involve the payment of funds to either party.
As a result, the Supreme Court of British Columbia's decision to grant a final order approving Telus' share exchange stands and all conditions precedent to completion of the exchange have now been satisfied says Telus.
"Our shareholders' strong support for this exchange was made clear during the shareholder vote on October 17, and we are very pleased that we can now conclude this important and beneficial share exchange," said Darren Entwistle, Telus President and CEO. "Having a single class of widely-traded shares is going to benefit all of our shareholders through enhanced trading volumes, liquidity and marketability and, as well, Telus common shares will be listed on the New York Stock Exchange for the first time. Moreover, the sole class of common shares will further enhance Telus' track record of excellence in corporate governance."
The carrier expects that its approximately 151 million outstanding non-voting shares will be delisted from the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on or about February 5, 2013 and from the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) on or about February 8, 2013. An equivalent number of additional Telus common shares would then be listed and begin trading on the NYSE for the first time on or about February 5, 2013 under the symbol "TU," the same symbol under which Telus' non-voting shares have traded on the exchange. Telus' common shares will continue to trade under the current symbol "T" on the TSX.
It expects the additional Telus common shares issued as a result of the exchange will be listed and begin trading on the TSX on or about February 11, 2013. Telus will have a single class of approximately 326 million common shares listed and trading on both the TSX and NYSE.
Telus notes that non-voting shareholders, with or without a physical share certificate, do not need to take any action because the company is moving to a Direct Registration System (DRS). As soon as practicable following the effective time, Telus' transfer agent Computershare will send non-voting shareholders a DRS advice form, which will represent the total number of common shares that they will be entitled to receive upon the exchange. This will allow shareholders to hold their new common shares in a "book entry" form without having a physical share certificate issued.
