In a renewed bid to dismantle its current share structure, Telus Corp. (TSX:T) has put forward a new proposal to exchange its non-voting shares into voting shares, giving all its shareholders equal voting rights and increasing the telecom’s liquidity.
On May 9, Telus withdrew a similar proposal under pressure from U.S. hedge fund Mason Capital Management LLC, a major shareholder of Telus voting shares at 19%.
Mason Capital publicly campaigned against the conversion, which it has claimed would be a “gift” to non-voting shareholders.
Telus announced yesterday it would invite investors to vote on the proposal at a meeting of shareholders on October 17.
Shareholders on record as of September 4 will be entitled to vote at the meeting. Telus’ proposal will require approval from its non-voting and common shareholders, each voting separately as a class.
The proposal will require approval from two-thirds of the non-voting share votes cast at the meeting, as the non-voting shares are being exchanged for common shares.
Darren Entwistle, Telus president and CEO, said, “With this proposal we are responding to the overwhelmingly positive support from shareholders since we introduced our first proposal to convert non-voting shares into common shares in late February.
“Excluding Mason Capital, proxies representing 92.4% of total shares received were in favour of our first proposal before we withdrew it in May. At that time we pledged to introduce another proposal for a one-for-one exchange in due course, and we are fulfilling that promise with today’s announcement.
“We strongly believe this proposal is fair to all shareholders, widely supported by shareholders with a true economic stake in Telus and consistent with the principles of good corporate governance.”
