Plantro Ltd. (“
Plantro”) today announced that it
has filed amended and restated offer documents in respect of its
offer (the “
Tender Offer”) to acquire up to
2,777,242 Class A Limited Voting Shares (the “
Class A
Shares”) in the capital of Information Services
Corporation (TSX: ISC) (“
ISC” or the
“
Company”) at a price of $27.25 per Class A Share,
payable in cash. The amendments and extension, which will benefit
ISC shareholders, were previously announced on April 8, 2025, and
were made following constructive engagement with the Financial and
Consumer Affairs Authority of Saskatchewan and the Ontario
Securities Commission.
Shareholders depositing Class A Shares pursuant
to the Tender Offer should utilize the amended and restated Letter
of Transmittal filed today. Any deposits of Class A Shares
utilizing the prior form of Letter of Transmittal must be
resubmitted using the amended and restated Letter of Transmittal to
be accepted as valid.
Plantro’s Premium Offer Provides Shareholders a
Rare Opportunity for Cash Liquidity in a Company With ‘Upside Down
Economics’
Plantro believes that the economics of ISC are
‘upside down’ and do not benefit long term shareholders. Since
ISC’s IPO in 2013, there has been a clear troubling trend, expense
growth has consistently outpaced revenue growth. When expenses
consistently outpace revenue, it sets the stage for serious
financial challenges over the long term.
The Risk of Shareholder Dilution
On April 10, 2025, despite recommending against
the Tender Offer as “highly undervalued”, ISC filed a $275 million
preliminary short form base shelf prospectus with the Canadian
securities regulators (the “Prospectus”). Plantro
believes it is impossible for ISC to fund its ‘buy-to-grow’
strategy to meet its 2028 revenue and Adjusted EBITDA targets
through cash flow generation or without incurring significant new
debt, and would have to sell equity. Plantro is concerned that the
Prospectus provides ISC flexibility to issue up to $275 million in
equity – more than half of its current market capitalization, which
would massively dilute ISC shareholders.
Board Refreshment Will Drive Shareholder
Returns
Plantro believes that the board of directors
(the “Board”) must be refreshed, so that it can
drive accretive growth for shareholders and derive true operating
leverage and economies of scale. Plantro believes the Board
requires an infusion of relevant skills and experience, and
directors that can hold management accountable and drive
operational execution. The interests of the directors, who
collectively own little stock, differs from that of other
shareholders. The Board has little incentive to prioritize
shareholder returns and avoid unnecessary equity dilution.
The Opportunity for a Made-in-Saskatchewan
Success Story
As a first step, a refreshed Board should fulfil
ISC’s true potential to be a made-in-Saskatchewan success story.
Saskatchewan has developed a business-friendly tech ecosystem and
ISC should take full advantage of these benefits. However:
The number of employees ISC has based in
Saskatchewan appears to have steadily declined since its
IPO1.
Today, most of its remaining workforce, which
make up the majority of ISC employees, is concentrated in high-cost
global hubs, such as Toronto and Dublin, Ireland, where it appears
new positions continue to be added.
Plantro believes that a refreshed Board
should commit to relocating at least 100 of these
positions back to Saskatchewan over the next
year.
This move would establish a "center of
excellence", in Saskatchewan, driving enhanced operational
performance and enabling opportunities for margin expansion.
Plantro believes this would deliver significant near-term value to
both the Company and its shareholders. Centralizing and
repatriating jobs to Saskatchewan is just good business sense.
The Board Should Engage with Plantro and Stop
Attacking Constructive Shareholders
From the outset, Plantro has made every effort
to resolve these matters confidentially, in good faith, and behind
closed doors. Unfortunately, the ISC Board has chosen a different
path—pursuing public litigation of these matters and resorting to
inappropriate personal attacks and mischaracterizations in the
media.
Despite the path chosen by the ISC Board to
date, Plantro hopes to accomplish the refreshment of the Board
through constructive engagement, and has not nominated individuals
for the 2025 annual meeting of shareholders (the “Annual
Meeting”). Plantro continues to make repeated requests to
meet with the Chair, other members of the Board, and management.
Unfortunately, all such outreaches have been ignored to date. If
the Board does not engage constructively, and continues its current
approach, Plantro may withhold votes, including those acquired
through the Tender Offer, from the Board at the Annual Meeting, and
it reserves all of its rights as a shareholder to take action in
the future.
An Opportunity for Long Term Shareholders to
Receive an Attractive Risk-Adjusted Cash Premium
Since the Class A Shares are so
illiquid, even long term shareholders have no
prospect of being able to sell stock without meaningfully affecting
the price of the Class A Shares. The changes outlined above will
take time, and for shareholders who been in the stock for many
years, this is a unique opportunity – if they so
choose.
Important Amendments for ISC Shareholders
The amendments to the terms of the Tender Offer
include, among other things:
-
Extended Tender Offer Period - The Tender Offer is
now open for acceptance by shareholders of the Company until 5:00
p.m. (Eastern Time) on April 28, 2025 (the “Expiry
Time”), unless the Tender Offer is further extended,
varied or withdrawn.
- Tender
Offer Made to All Shareholders - Plantro is making the
Tender Offer to all shareholders of the Company, including
shareholders who were not holders of record on March 24, 2025 and
the Crown Investment Corporation of Saskatchewan.
- No
Longer Acquiring Shares on a First Come First Serve Basis
- Plantro will only take up and pay for Class A Shares that are
deposited pursuant to the Tender Offer as at the Expiry Time, and
not on a “first come, first served” and/or “rolling” basis. As a
result, if more than the maximum number of Class A Shares for which
the Tender Offer is made are delivered in accordance with the
Tender Offer and not withdrawn at the time of take up of the Class
A Shares, the Class A Shares to be purchased from each depositing
shareholder will be determined on a pro rata basis according to the
number of Class A Shares delivered by each shareholder,
disregarding fractions, by rounding down to the nearest whole
number of Class A Shares.
-
Shareholders Have the Right to Opt Out of Voting
Tender - Plantro has further amended the Tender Offer to
allow Class A Shareholders of record on March 24, 2025, to opt out
of appointing representatives of Plantro as their nominees and
proxy in respect of such shares owned by a shareholder that are not
deposited pursuant to the Tender Offer and ultimately taken up and
paid for. For clarity, such opt out right will not apply to Class A
Shares of record on March 24, 2025, which are deposited pursuant to
the Tender Offer and ultimately taken up and paid for, and the
holder of such shares will be required to appoint representatives
of Plantro as its nominees and proxy for the Company’s annual
meeting of shareholders to be held on May 24, 2025 in respect of
such shares.
In addition to the above amendments, the size of
the Tender Offer has been reduced by 100 Class A Shares to reflect
that Plantro has acquired such number of shares in the market, all
in compliance with the terms of the Tender Offer.
Plantro is relying on the exemption under
section 9.2(4) of National Instrument 51-102 – Continuous
Disclosure Obligations to the circular requirements of applicable
Canadian proxy solicitation laws. For further details, please see
below under the heading “Information in Support of Public Broadcast
Exemption Under Canadian Law”. The Tender Offer is not a formal or
exempt take-over bid under Canadian securities laws and
regulations. In no event will Plantro (or its affiliates or
associates) make any such purchases of Class A Shares that would
result in Plantro, together with its affiliates and associates,
beneficially owning or exercising control or direction over more
than 15% of the outstanding Class A Shares upon completion of the
Tender Offer.
Full details of the Tender Offer are included in
the Offer Documents and are available online on the Company’s
SEDAR+ profile at www.sedarplus.ca.
Plantro’s Advisors
Plantro has engaged Goodmans LLP as its legal
advisor, Carson Proxy as its information agent, Odyssey Trust
Company as depositary, and Gagnier Communications as its strategic
communications advisor.
About Plantro
Plantro is a privately-held company, with an
established track record of making successful investments in
undervalued and high quality legal, financial, and information
services businesses.
Shareholder Questions
Shareholders who have questions with respect to
the Tender Offer, or who need assistance in depositing their Class
A Shares, please contact the depositary and information agent for
the Tender Offer:
Depositary: Odyssey Trust
Company
Toll Free (US & Canada): 1-888-290-1175Calls
(All Regions): 587-885-0960Email: corp.actions@odysseytrust.com
Information Agent: Carson
Proxy
North America Toll Free: 1-800-530-5189Local and
Text: 416-751-2066Email: info@carsonproxy.com
Information in Support of Public Broadcast
Exemption Under Canadian Law
Plantro is relying on the exemption under
section 9.2(4) of National Instrument 51-102 – Continuous
Disclosure Obligations to make this public broadcast solicitation.
The following information is provided in accordance with corporate
and securities laws applicable to public broadcast
solicitations.
This solicitation is being made by Plantro, and
not by or on behalf of management of ISC. The information agent
will receive a fee of up to $250,000 for its services as
information agent under the Tender Offer, plus ancillary payments
and disbursements. Based upon publicly available information, ISC’s
registered and head office is located at 300 – 10 Research Drive,
Regina, Saskatchewan, S4S 7J7, Canada. Plantro is soliciting
proxies in reliance upon the public broadcast exemption to the
solicitation requirements under applicable Canadian corporate and
securities laws, conveyed by way of public broadcast, including
press release, speech or publication, and by any other manner
permitted under applicable Canadian securities laws. In addition,
this solicitation may be made by mail, telephone, facsimile, email
or other electronic means as well as by newspaper or other media
advertising and in person by representatives of Plantro. All costs
incurred for such solicitation will be borne by Plantro.
A registered shareholder who has given a proxy
under the terms of the Letter of Transmittal may, prior to its
Class A Shares being taken up and paid for under the Tender Offer,
revoke the proxy by instrument in writing, including a proxy
bearing a later date. The instrument revoking the proxy must be
deposited at the registered office of ISC at least 48 hours,
exclusive of Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays, preceding the date
of the meeting or an adjournment or postponement thereof, or with
the Chair of the meeting on the day of the meeting, or in any other
manner permitted by law, provided that, in each circumstance, a
copy of such revocation has been delivered to the depositary, at
its principal office in Toronto, Ontario, Canada prior to the Class
A Shares relating to such proxy having been taken up and paid for
under the Tender Offer.
A non-registered shareholder may revoke a form
of proxy or voting instruction form given to an intermediary at any
time by written notice to the intermediary in accordance with the
instructions given to the non-registered shareholder by its
intermediary. Non-registered shareholders should contact their
broker for assistance in ensuring that forms of proxies or voting
instructions previously given to an intermediary are properly
revoked.
None of Plantro nor, to its knowledge, any of
its associates or affiliates, has any material interest, direct or
indirect, in any transaction since the commencement of ISC’s most
recently completed financial year, or in any proposed transaction
which has materially affected or will materially affect ISC or any
of its subsidiaries. None of Plantro nor, to its knowledge, any of
its associates or affiliates, has any material interest, direct or
indirect, by way of beneficial ownership of securities or
otherwise, in any matter to be acted upon at any upcoming
shareholders’ meeting, other than as set out herein.
Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking
Information
This press release may contain forward-looking
information and forward-looking statements within the meaning of
applicable securities laws. Specifically, certain statements
contained in this press release, including without limitation
statements regarding the Tender Offer, taking up and paying for
Class A Shares deposited under the Tender Offer, and the expiry of
the Tender Offer, contain “forward-looking information” and are
prospective in nature. In some cases, but not necessarily in all
cases, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of
forward looking terminology such as “plans”, “targets”, “expects”
or “does not expect”, “is expected”, “an opportunity exists”, “is
positioned”, “estimates”, “intends”, “assumes”, “anticipates” or
“does not anticipate” or “believes”, or variations of such words
and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results “may”,
“could”, “would”, “might”, “will” or “will be taken”, “occur” or
“be achieved”. In addition, any statements that refer to
expectations, projections or other characterizations of future
events or circumstances contain forward-looking statements.
Statements containing forward-looking
information are not based on historical facts, but rather on
current expectations and projections about future events and are
therefore subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause
actual results to differ materially from the future outcomes
expressed or implied by the statements containing forward-looking
information.
Although Plantro believes that the expectations
reflected in statements containing forward-looking information
herein made by it (and not, for greater certainty, any
forward-looking statements attributable to the Company) are
reasonable, such statements involve risks and uncertainties, and
undue reliance should not be placed on such statements. Material
factors or assumptions that were applied in formulating the
forward-looking information contained herein include the assumption
that the business and economic conditions affecting the Company’s
operations will continue substantially in the current state,
including, without limitation, with respect to industry conditions,
general levels of economic activity, continuity and availability of
personnel, local and international laws and regulations, foreign
currency exchange rates and interest rates, inflation, taxes, that
there will be no unplanned material changes to the Company’s
operations, and that the Company’s public disclosure record is
accurate in all material respects and is not misleading (including
by omission).
Plantro cautions that the foregoing list of
material factors and assumptions is not exhaustive. While these
factors and assumptions are considered by Plantro to be appropriate
and reasonable in the circumstances as of the date of this press
release, they are subject to known and unknown risks,
uncertainties, assumptions and other factors that may cause the
actual results, levels of activity, performance, or achievements to
be materially different from those expressed or implied by such
forward-looking information. Many of these assumptions are based on
factors and events that are not within the control of Plantro and
there is no assurance that they will prove correct.
Important facts that could cause outcomes to
differ materially from those expressed or implied by such
forward-looking information include, among other things, actions
taken by the Company in respect of the Tender Offer, the content of
subsequent public disclosures by the Company, the failure to
satisfy the conditions to the Tender Offer, general economic
conditions, legislative or regulatory changes and changes in
capital or securities markets. If any of these risks or
uncertainties materialize, or if the opinions, estimates or
assumptions underlying the forward-looking information prove
incorrect, actual results or future events might vary materially
from those anticipated in the forward-looking information. Although
Plantro has attempted to identify important risk factors that could
cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in
forward-looking information, there may be other risk factors not
presently known to Plantro or that Plantro presently believes are
not material that could also cause actual results or future events
to differ materially from those expressed in such forward-looking
information.
Statements containing forward-looking
information in this press release are based on Plantro’s beliefs
and opinions at the time the statements are made, and there should
be no expectation that such forward-looking information will be
updated or supplemented as a result of new information, estimates
or opinions, future events or results or otherwise, and Plantro
disclaims any obligation to do so, except as required by applicable
law. All of the forward-looking information contained in this press
release is expressly qualified by the foregoing cautionary
statements.
1405-7479-8102
1 Based on 2014 Annual Information Form vs. 2025
Annual Information Form and current LinkedIn Data.
Information Services (TSX:ISC)
과거 데이터 주식 차트
부터 3월(3) 2025 으로 4월(4) 2025
Information Services (TSX:ISC)
과거 데이터 주식 차트
부터 4월(4) 2024 으로 4월(4) 2025