Aimia announces renewal of its normal course issuer bid
MONTREAL, May 15, 2015 /CNW Telbec/ – Aimia Inc. (TSX: AIM) announced today that it has received approval from the Toronto Stock Exchange respecting the renewal of its normal course issuer bid to purchase for cancellation up to 16,346,860 of its common shares, or 10% of the public float of 163,468,604 common shares as at May 14, 2015, through the facilities of the Toronto Stock Exchange and through alternative trading systems (such as Alpha ATS), or by other means as may be permitted by the TSX, such as prearranged crosses, exempt offers and block purchases, during the period from May 20, 2015 to no later than May 19, 2016. Aimia may also purchase common shares for cancellation by way of private agreements under an issuer bid exemption order issued by a securities regulatory authority. Purchases made on the open market through the facilities of the TSX and alternative trading systems will be at the prevailing market price at the time of acquisition. Purchases made by way of private agreements under an issuer bid exemption order issued by a securities regulatory authority will be at a discount to the prevailing market price as provided in the exemption order. As at May 14, 2015 there were 163,748,373 common shares issued and outstanding.
The average daily trading volume on the Toronto Stock Exchange for the past six months was 451,898 common shares. Under the regulations of the Toronto Stock Exchange, a maximum daily repurchase of 25% of this average may be made, representing 112,974 common shares. In addition, Aimia may make, once per week, a block purchase (as such term is defined in the TSX Company Manual) of common shares not directly or indirectly owned by insiders of Aimia, in accordance with the regulations of the Toronto Stock Exchange. The common shares purchased pursuant to the normal course issuer bid will be cancelled.
The Board of Directors of Aimia has concluded that the repurchase of common shares represents an appropriate use of funds to increase shareholder value, as the underlying value of Aimia may not be reflected in the market price of its common shares from time to time.
From May 16, 2014 to May 14, 2015, Aimia purchased for cancellation an aggregate of 10,761,216 of its common shares pursuant to its current normal course issuer bid, at a weighted average price of $13.59 per share.
About Aimia
Aimia Inc. (TSX: AIM) is a data-driven marketing and loyalty analytics company. We provide our clients with the customer insights they need to make smarter business decisions and build relevant, rewarding and long-term one-to-one relationships, evolving the value exchange to the mutual benefit of both our clients and consumers.
With close to 4,000 employees in 20 countries, Aimia partners with groups of companies (coalitions) and individual companies to help generate, collect and analyze customer data and build actionable insights.
We do this through our own coalition loyalty programs such as Aeroplan in Canada and Nectar in the UK, and through provision of loyalty strategy, program development, implementation and management services underpinned by leading products and technology platforms such as the Aimia Loyalty Platform and Smart Button, and through our analytics and insights business, including Intelligent Shopper Solutions. In other markets, we own stakes in loyalty programs, such as Club Premier in Mexico, Air Miles Middle East and Think Big, a partnership with Air Asia and Tune Group. Our clients are diverse, and we have industry leading expertise in the fast-moving consumer goods, retail, financial services, and travel and airline industries globally to deliver against their unique needs.
For a full list of our partnerships and investments, and more information about Aimia, visit www.aimia.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
Forward-looking statements are included in this news release. These forward-looking statements are typically identified by the use of terms such as “outlook”, “guidance”, “target”, “forecast”, “assumption” and other similar expressions or future or conditional terms such as “anticipate”, “believe”, “could”, “estimate”, “expect”, “intend”, “may”, “plan”, “predict”, “project”, “will”, “would”, and “should”. Such statements may involve but are not limited to comments with respect to strategies, expectations, planned operations or future actions.
Forward-looking statements, by their nature, are based on assumptions and are subject to important risks and uncertainties. Any forecasts, predictions or forward-looking statements cannot be relied upon due to, among other things, changing external events and general uncertainties of the business and its corporate structure. Results indicated in forward-looking statements may differ materially from actual results for a number of reasons, including without limitation, dependency on Significant Accumulation Partners and clients, failure to safeguard databases, cyber security and consumer privacy, changes to the Aeroplan program, reliance on Redemption Partners, conflicts of interest, greater than expected redemptions for rewards, regulatory matters, retail market/economic conditions, industry competition, Air Canada liquidity issues or air travel industry disruptions, airline industry changes and increased airline costs, supply and capacity costs, unfunded future redemption costs, changes to coalition loyalty programs, seasonal nature of the business, other factors and prior performance, foreign operations, legal proceedings, reliance on key personnel, labour relations, pension liability, technological disruptions and inability to use third-party software, failure to protect intellectual property rights, interest rate and currency fluctuations (including currency risk on our foreign operations which are denominated in a currency other than the Canadian dollar, mainly the pound sterling, and subject to fluctuations as a result of foreign exchange rate variations), leverage and restrictive covenants in current and future indebtedness, uncertainty of dividend payments, managing growth, credit ratings, audit by tax authorities, as well as the other factors identified throughout Aimia’s public disclosure records on file with the Canadian securities regulatory authorities.
The forward-looking statements contained herein represent Aimia’s expectations as of May 15, 2015 and are subject to change after such date. However, Aimia disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required under applicable securities regulations.
SOURCE AIMIA
Contact: Analysts and Investors: Angela McMonagle, 647-428-5280, angela.mcmonagle@aimia.com; Media: Krista Pawley, 416-352-3794, krista.pawley@aimia.com