September 01, 2015 17:15 ET
CALGARY, ALBERTA--(Marketwired - Sept. 1, 2015) - Enbridge Income Fund Holdings Inc. (the "Company") (TSX:ENF) and Enbridge Income Fund (the "Fund") announced the closing of the acquisition of Enbridge Inc.'s (TSX:ENB)(NYSE:ENB) Canadian Liquids Pipelines business, comprised of Enbridge Pipelines Inc. (EPI) and Enbridge Pipelines Athabasca Inc. (EPA), and certain Canadian renewable energy assets (the "Transaction") by an indirect subsidiary of Enbridge Income Fund (the "Fund") for $30.4 billion plus incentive/performance rights.
The Company's Board of Directors declared a dividend payable on October 15, 2015 to shareholders of record at September 30, 2015 in the sum of $0.1414 per common share of the Company (Common Share), representing a 10 percent increase to $1.6968 per Common Share annualized. The dividend is designated an eligible dividend for Canadian tax purposes which qualifies for the enhanced dividend tax credit. A further 10 percent increase is expected at the beginning of 2016 and each year thereafter through 2019.
The Transaction was overwhelmingly approved by the Company's shareholders at a special meeting held on August 20, 2015 and provides a highly transparent source of long-term growth based on $15 billion of low-risk, commercially secured growth projects associated with the acquired assets; $3 billion of which are already in-service and the balance of which are expected to come into service by 2018.
"We are very pleased to have closed this Transaction," said Company President Perry Schuldhaus. "It represents a very substantial increase in the scale and scope of the Fund's business and transforms the Company into a premier energy infrastructure investment vehicle, providing shareholders with premium dividend growth generated from a diversified portfolio of infrastructure assets with low risk commercial characteristics."
Details of the Transaction, including a description of the assets, the terms of the sale, including the consideration paid and the securities issued to Enbridge Inc. and its affiliates are set out in the June 19, 2015 joint news release of the Company and the Fund.
FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION
Forward-looking information, or forward-looking statements, have been included in this news release to provide information about the Company and the Fund, including statements with respect to: expectations regarding, and anticipated impact of, the Transaction; near and long term growth of the Fund; dividend expectations; and value to shareholders of the Company. Although the Company and the Fund believe these forward-looking statements are reasonable based on the information available on the date such statements are made and processes used to prepare the information, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and readers are cautioned against placing undue reliance on forward-looking statements. By their nature, these statements involve a variety of assumptions, known and unknown risks and uncertainties and other factors, which may cause actual results, levels of activity and achievements to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements. Material assumptions include assumptions about: expected timing and terms of the Transaction; anticipated completion of the Transaction; satisfaction of all closing conditions and receipt of consents and approvals with respect to the Transaction; impact of the Transaction and dividend expectations; expected supply and demand for crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids; prices of crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids; expected exchange rates; inflation; interest rates; completion of growth projects, availability and price of labour and pipeline construction materials; operational reliability; anticipated in-service dates and weather. Assumptions regarding the expected supply of and demand of crude oil, natural gas, NGL and renewable energy, and the prices of these commodities, are material to and underlie all forward-looking statements. These factors are relevant to all forward-looking statements as they may impact current and future levels of demand for the Fund's services and products. Similarly, exchange rates, inflation and interest rates impact the economies and business environments in which the Fund operates and may impact levels of demand for the Fund's services and cost of inputs, and are therefore inherent in all forward-looking statements. Due to the interdependencies and correlation of these macroeconomic factors, the impact of any one assumption on a forward-looking statement cannot be determined with certainty.
The Company's and the Fund's forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties pertaining to the Transaction, dividend expectations, operating performance, regulatory parameters, project approval and support, weather, economic and competitive conditions, changes in tax law and tax rates, exchange rates, interest rates, commodity prices and supply and demand for commodities, including but not limited to those risks and uncertainties discussed in this news release and in the Company's and the Fund's other filings with Canadian securities regulators. The impact of any one risk, uncertainty or factor on a particular forward-looking statement is not determinable with certainty as these are interdependent and the Company's and the Fund's future course of action depends on management's assessment of all information available at the relevant time. Except to the extent required by applicable law, the Company and the Fund assume no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements made in this news release or otherwise, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. All subsequent forward-looking statements, whether written or oral, attributable to the Company, the Fund, or persons acting on their behalf, are expressly qualified in their entirety by these cautionary statements.
Readers should be cautioned that there is no assurance that the Transaction will be completed in the manner contemplated, or at all, or that the current market conditions and the assumptions and forecasts based on such market conditions will not materially change.
ABOUT ENBRIDGE INCOME FUND HOLDINGS INC.
Enbridge Income Fund Holdings Inc. is a publicly traded corporation. The Company, through its investment in Enbridge Income Fund, holds high quality, low risk energy infrastructure assets. The Fund's assets consist of a portfolio of Canadian liquids transportation and storage businesses, including the 2,306-kilometre Canadian segment of the Mainline System (the largest conduit of oil into the United States), the Regional Oil Sands System, the Canadian segment of the Southern Lights Pipeline, Class A units entitling the holder to receive defined cash flows from the US segment of the Southern Lights Pipeline, a 50 percent interest in the Alliance Pipeline and interests in more than 1400 megawatts of renewable and alternative power generation capacity. Information about Enbridge Income Fund Holdings Inc. is available on the Company's website at www.enbridgeincomefund.com.