Imperial Oil Limited announced that the Board of Directors, on the recommendation of a special committee of independent directors, has authorized the initiation of a substantial issuer bid (the “Offer”) pursuant to which the company will offer to purchase for cancellation up to $2,500,000,000 of its common shares (the “Shares”). The company anticipates that the terms and pricing will be determined, and the Offer will commence, during the next two weeks and will be completed before the end of June 2022. All amounts are in Canadian dollars.
Under the proposed issuer bid, which remains subject to obtaining the necessary exemptive relief under applicable securities laws in Canada and the United States, shareholders wishing to accept the Offer will have the opportunity to tender their Shares through a modified Dutch auction or through a proportionate tender which will result in them maintaining their proportionate Share ownership.
Exxon Mobil Corporation (“ExxonMobil”), Imperial’s majority shareholder, has advised Imperial that it intends to make a proportionate tender in connection with the Offer in order to maintain its proportionate Share ownership at approximately 69.6 percent following completion of the Offer.
The Offer referred to in this news release has not yet commenced. This news release is for informational purposes only and does not constitute an offer to buy or the solicitation of an offer to sell Shares. An offer to purchase the Shares will only be made pursuant to Offer documents to be filed with the applicable securities regulators in Canada and the United States, which remains subject to obtaining the necessary exemptive relief under applicable securities laws in Canada and the United States. The Offer will be optional for all shareholders, who will be free to choose whether to participate, how many Shares to tender and, in the case of auction tenders, at what price to tender within the specified range. Any shareholder who does not deposit any Shares (or whose Shares are not repurchased under the Offer) will realize a proportionate increase in equity interest in Imperial, to the extent that Shares are purchased under the Offer.
Imperial is one of Canada’s largest integrated oil companies. It is active in all phases of the petroleum industry in Canada, including the exploration for, and production and sale of, crude oil and natural gas. In Canada, it is a major producer of crude oil, the largest petroleum refiner and a leading marketer of petroleum products. It is also a major producer of petrochemicals. The company’s operations are conducted in three main segments: Upstream, Downstream and Chemical.
