Company Announcements

Readers are referred to the section "Forward-Looking Statements" at the end of this release. All figures are expressed in Canadian dollars.

MONTRÉAL , Jan. 12, 2023 /CNW Telbec/ - Power Corporation of Canada (Power Corporation or Power) (TSX: POW) today announced that it has closed the previously announced transaction in which Power sold its 13.9% ownership stake in China Asset Management Co., Ltd. (ChinaAMC) to Mackenzie Financial Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of IGM Financial Inc. (IGM or IGM Financial) (TSX: IGM), for aggregate consideration of $1.15 billion in cash. IGM's equity ownership in ChinaAMC is now 27.8%. Power shareholders will continue to participate in ChinaAMC through Power's 64.9% economic interest in IGM.

In a separate transaction, IGM sold 15,200,662 Great-West Lifeco Inc. (Great-West Lifeco) (TSX: GWO) common shares to a subsidiary of Power Financial Corporation (Power Financial) for aggregate consideration of approximately $552.7 million, being a base purchase price of $575 million, less quarterly dividends received by IGM with respect to the Great-West Lifeco common shares declared after March 31, 2022 totalling $22.3 million ^[1]. Following the acquisition of these additional Great-West Lifeco common shares, Power Financial beneficially owns an aggregate of 635,450,694 Great-West Lifeco common shares, excluding those which remain beneficially owned by IGM, representing 68.2% of the issued and outstanding Great-West Lifeco common shares.

"We look forward to continued participation in ChinaAMC through our ownership of IGM," said R. Jeffrey Orr, President and Chief Executive Officer of Power Corporation. "We also believe this is an attractive opportunity to both increase our ownership in Great-West Lifeco and support our share buyback initiatives."

Power Corporation expects to return a portion of the net cash proceeds from the transaction to its shareholders, after factoring in the purchase of Great-West Lifeco common shares, through share repurchases over time pursuant to a normal course issuer bid of Power.

For additional details on the transaction, please refer to the Power Corporation news release dated January 5, 2022.

[1] According to the terms of the transaction, the purchase price paid by Power was adjusted for ordinary course quarterly dividends on the Great-West Lifeco common shares declared after March 31, 2022.

Power Corporation is an international management and holding company that focuses on financial services in North America, Europe and Asia. Its core holdings are leading insurance, retirement, wealth management and investment businesses, including a portfolio of alternative asset investment platforms. To learn more, visit www.PowerCorporation.com.

Power Financial, a wholly owned subsidiary of Power Corporation, is an international management and holding company with interests in financial services and asset management businesses in Canada, the United States and Europe. It also has significant holdings in a portfolio of global companies based in Europe. To learn more, visit www.PowerFinancial.com. 

Certain statements in this news release, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements based on certain assumptions and reflect Power's current expectations. Forward-looking statements are provided for the purposes of assisting the reader in understanding Power's financial performance, financial position and cash flows as at and for the periods ended on certain dates and to present information about management's current expectations and plans relating to the future and the reader is cautioned that such statements may not be appropriate for other purposes. These statements include, without limitation, statements regarding repurchases pursuant to a normal course issuer bid of Power. Forward-looking statements include statements that are predictive in nature, depend upon or refer to future events or conditions, or include words such as "expects", "anticipates", "plans", "believes", "estimates", "seeks", "intends", "targets", "projects", "forecasts" or negative versions thereof and other similar expressions, or future or conditional verbs such as "may", "will", "should", "would" and "could".

By its nature, this information is subject to inherent risks and uncertainties that may be general or specific and which give rise to the possibility that expectations, forecasts, predictions, projections or conclusions will not prove to be accurate, that assumptions may not be correct and that objectives, strategic goals and priorities will not be achieved. A variety of factors, many of which are beyond Power's and its subsidiaries' control, affect the operations, performance and results of Power and its subsidiaries and their businesses, and could cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations of estimated or anticipated events or results. These factors include, but are not limited to: the impact or unanticipated impact of general economic, political and market factors in North America and internationally, fluctuations in interest rates, inflation and foreign exchange rates, monetary policies, business investment and the health of local and global equity and capital markets, management of market liquidity and funding risks, risks related to investments in private companies and illiquid securities, risks associated with financial instruments, changes in accounting policies and methods used to report financial condition (including uncertainties associated with significant judgments, estimates and assumptions), the effect of applying future accounting changes, business competition, operational and reputational risks, technological changes, cybersecurity risks, changes in government regulation and legislation, changes in tax laws, unexpected judicial or regulatory proceedings, catastrophic events, man-made disasters, terrorist attacks, wars and other conflicts (such as the invasion of Ukraine), or an outbreak of a public health pandemic or other public health crises (such as COVID-19), Power's and its subsidiaries' ability to complete strategic transactions, integrate acquisitions and implement other growth strategies, and Power's and its subsidiaries' success in anticipating and managing the foregoing factors.

The reader is cautioned to consider these and other factors, uncertainties and potential events carefully and not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Information contained in forward-looking statements is based upon certain material assumptions that were applied in drawing a conclusion or making a forecast or projection, including management's perceptions of historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments, as well as other considerations that are believed to be appropriate in the circumstances, including the availability of cash to complete purchases under normal course issuer bid, and that the list of factors in the preceding paragraph, collectively, are not expected to have a material impact on Power and its subsidiaries. While Power considers these assumptions to be reasonable based on information currently available to management, they may prove to be incorrect.

Other than as specifically required by applicable Canadian law, Power undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement to reflect events or circumstances after the date on which such statement is made, or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events, whether as a result of new information, future events or results, or otherwise. Additional information about the risks and uncertainties of Power's business and material factors or assumptions on which information contained in forward-looking statements is based is provided in their disclosure materials, including Power Corporation's most recent Management's Discussion and Analysis and Annual Information Form, filed with the securities regulatory authorities in Canada available at www.sedar.com.

SOURCE Power Corporation of Canada