TELUS acquires additional shares of TELUS International through agreement with Baring Private Equity Asia

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, May 16, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- TELUS Corporation (“TELUS”) today announced that its indirect, wholly-owned subsidiary has entered into a purchase agreement with an entity affiliated with BPEA EQT (“BPEA”) relating to the acquisition by TELUS of 2.5 million multiple voting shares (the “Purchased Shares”) in the capital of TELUS International (Cda) Inc. (“TELUS International” or “TI”) from BPEA. Today’s investment is consistent with our shareholder agreement with BPEA whereby TELUS has the Right of First Offer to purchase multiple voting shares or subordinate voting shares from BPEA in connection with a sale transaction for gross proceeds in excess of US$10.0 million.

“Upon thoughtful consideration, we have reached an agreement to acquire additional shares of TI from BPEA,” said Darren Entwistle, President and CEO of TELUS. “This purchase represents an attractive opportunity to invest further in TI, demonstrating our long-standing confidence in TI’s operational execution and financial outlook, focused on continued profitable growth. Moreover, this investment reinforces the important ongoing role TI plays in advancing TELUS’ global growth strategy. Indeed, with TELUS as an anchor client, TI is enabling our organization's customer service excellence and powering our critical digitization strategy. This includes providing premium AI and digital enablement solutions across our telecommunications business as well as TELUS Health and TELUS Agriculture & Consumer Goods, which TI has successfully productized for the benefit of other global brands.”

The purchase of the Purchased Shares is being made pursuant to the private agreement exemption set forth in section 4.2 of National Instrument 62-104.

The Purchased Shares represent approximately 1.3% of the outstanding multiple voting shares of TELUS International and approximately 0.9% of all outstanding shares. The Purchased Shares are being acquired for a purchase price of US$16.90 per Purchased Share, representing aggregate consideration of US$42,250,000.

Before giving effect to the purchase, TELUS held an aggregate of 149,504,019 multiple voting shares of TELUS International and 1,438,013 subordinate voting shares, representing approximately 74.8% of the outstanding multiple voting shares, 2.0% of the outstanding subordinate voting shares, 72.2% of the outstanding voting rights attached to all shares of TELUS International and approximately 55.2% of the total shares outstanding. After giving effect to the purchase, TELUS will hold an aggregate of 152,004,019 multiple voting shares and 1,438,013 subordinate voting shares. Upon completion of the acquisition, the shares held by TELUS will represent approximately 56.1% of the outstanding shares of TELUS International, 2.0% of the outstanding subordinate voting shares, 76.0% of the outstanding multiple voting shares of TELUS International and 73.4% of the outstanding voting rights of TELUS International. The multiple voting shares of TELUS International may be converted into subordinate voting shares on a one-for-one basis at any time.