TORONTO, March 21, 2003 – Sun Life Financial Services of Canada Inc. (NYSE, TSX: “SLF”) announced today it has increased its ownership stake in CI Fund Management Inc. (“CI”; TSX: “CIX”) by issuing 2,142,156 common shares in exchange for 5,462,500 common shares of CI, or 2.3 per cent of the total outstanding common shares of CI. As a result of this transaction between Sun Life Financial and private common shareholders of CI, Sun Life Financial will own 79,500,627 common shares of CI, representing 34 per cent of the outstanding common shares of CI. The exchange ratio of 2.55 CI common shares for each common share of Sun Life Financial represents a premium of 5.9 per cent over the 20 consecutive trading day average for CI common shares immediately preceding February 20, 2003, the date on which an offer from Sun Life Financial was made to a small number of CI’s private common shareholders.
On July 25, 2002, Sun Life Financial completed its acquisition of a 30 per cent economic interest in CI in exchange for its mutual fund subsidiaries, Spectrum Investment Management Limited and Clarica Diversico Ltd. and related segregated fund businesses. The transaction included a strategic distribution agreement giving CI preferred access for its products to more than 4,000 Clarica agents and managers.
“Increasing our ownership stake in CI will allow us to more fully participate in the future growth of the company, furthering our strategic objective of achieving leadership positions in key target markets in North America,” said Donald A. Stewart, Chief Executive Officer, Sun Life Financial. “Since the closing of our original transaction, integration of the Spectrum and Diversico systems into the CI systems has been completed and we have gained the ability to offer our customers enhanced product choice through Canada’s largest direct sales force.”
The original transaction between Sun Life Financial and CI included a standstill agreement under which Sun Life Financial agreed not to increase its stake in CI beyond 34 per cent for three years, subject to certain exceptions.
About CI
CI Fund Management Inc. (TSX: CIX) is an independent, Canadian-owned investment management company with approximately $32 billion in fee-earning assets as of February 28, 2003, making it one of the largest fund companies in Canada. It has the industry’s broadest selection of investment funds, including mutual funds, industry-specific funds, 100% RSP-eligible funds, multi-manager funds, segregated funds and hedge funds. CI is on the Web at www.cifunds.com.
About Sun Life Financial
Sun Life Financial is a leading international financial services organization providing a diverse range of wealth accumulation and protection products and services to individuals and corporate customers. Tracing its roots back to 1865, Sun Life Financial and its partners today have operations in key markets worldwide, including Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Japan, Indonesia, India, China and Bermuda. As of December 31, 2002, the Sun Life Financial group of companies has total assets under management of CDN $360.6 billion.
Sun Life Financial Services of Canada Inc. trades on the Toronto (TSX), New York (NYSE) and Philippine (PSE) stock exchanges under ticker symbol “SLF”.
Tags: Sun Life
