EDMONTON, January 18, 2011 – Canadian Western Bank (TSX: CWB) today announced the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) has approved CWB’s application to renew its normal course issuer bid (NCIB) for outstanding warrants (TSX: CWB.WT). Under the renewed NCIB, CWB may purchase, for cancellation, up to 1,029,108 warrants. The warrants will be purchased through the facilities of the TSX.
The purchase of warrants under the NCIB forms part of CWB's capital management program. This initiative is consistent with management's objective to maintain a strong regulatory capital position while maximizing value for CWB shareholders.
The warrants that may be repurchased under the NCIB represent approximately 10% of the public float of warrants currently issued and outstanding. As of January 17, 2011, there were 10,574,021 warrants outstanding. The average daily trading volume of the warrants on the TSX for the six months ended December 31, 2010 was 42,728 warrants.
Purchases under the NCIB may commence on January 20, 2011 and will terminate on January 19, 2012. The price paid for any warrants purchased will be the market price of such warrants on the TSX at the time of acquisition. Apart from block purchase exceptions, the maximum number of warrants CWB may purchase for cancellation per trading day is 10,682, which is equal to 25% of the average daily trading volume for the six month period noted above. Under its previous normal course issuer bid, which began January 20, 2010 and ended January 19, 2011, CWB purchased 1,469,677 warrants for cancellation at an average price of $11.19 per warrant.