An anonymous director reports

LIFE & BANC SPLIT CORP. ANNOUNCES PREFERRED SHARE OFFERING

Life & Banc Split Corp. is undertaking a treasury offering of preferred shares.

The sales period for this offering is expected to end on Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2023. The offering is expected to close on or about Oct. 31, 2023, and is subject to certain closing conditions, including approval by the Toronto Stock Exchange.

The preferred shares will be offered at a price of $9.60 per preferred share for a yield to maturity of 8.3 per cent. The closing price on the TSX for the preferred shares on Oct. 13, 2023, was $9.72. The offering is being led by RBC Capital Markets.

The investment objectives for the preferred shares are to provide holders with fixed cumulative preferential quarterly cash distributions and to return the original issue price plus accrued dividends (if any) to holders of preferred shares on the maturity date. On April 4, 2023, the company announced that the board of directors approved an extension of the maturity date of the company for an additional five-year term to Oct. 30, 2028. On Aug. 28, 2023, the company announced that the distribution rate for the preferred shares for the new five-year term from Oct. 31, 2023, to Oct. 30, 2028, will be 72.5 cents per annum (7.25 per cent on the par value of $10 per preferred share).

Based on the most recently calculated net asset value per unit of the company on Oct. 12, 2023, the preferred shares have downside protection from a decline in the value of the company's portfolio of approximately 38 per cent. The preferred shares have delivered a 5.5-per-cent-per-annum total return over the last five years, outperforming the S&P/TSX Preferred Share Index by 6.4 per cent per annum. The preferred shares have a DBRS rating of Pfd-3.

The company received retraction notices from certain holders of preferred shares in connection with the non-concurrent retraction right on Oct. 30, 2023. The company is offering preferred shares under the offering in order to, to the extent possible, have a matched number of preferred shares and Class A shares of the company outstanding following the non-concurrent retraction and releverage the company's portfolio for the benefit of the Class A shareholders. Class A shareholders enjoy the opportunity for enhanced capital appreciation because of the leverage provided by the preferred shares. Class A shares have generated a 12.1-per-cent-per-annum return over the past 10 years, outperforming the S&P/TSX Capped Financials Index by 3.0 per cent per annum.

The company invests in a portfolio consisting of common shares of the six largest Canadian banks and the four major publicly traded Canadian life insurance companies:

• Manulife Financial Corp.;
• Sun Life Financial Inc.;
• iA Financial Corp. Inc.;
• Royal Bank of Canada;
• Great-West Lifeco Inc.;
• Bank of Montreal;
• Toronto-Dominion Bank;
• National Bank of Canada;
• Bank of Nova Scotia;
• Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce.

A short form base shelf prospectus containing important detailed information about the securities being offered has been filed with securities commissions or similar authorities in each of the provinces and territories of Canada. Copies of the short form base shelf prospectus may be obtained from a member of the syndicate. The company intends to file a supplement to the short form base shelf prospectus, and investors should read the short form base shelf prospectus and the prospectus supplement before making an investment decision. There will not be any sale or any acceptance of an offer to buy the securities being offered until the prospectus supplement has been filed with the securities commissions or similar authorities in each of the provinces and territories of Canada.

We seek Safe Harbor.