OHSWEKEN — Six Nations is officially a shareholder in Hydro One.
Six Nations Elected Chief Ava Hill confirmed SNEC has accepted the offer and is now a part of the limited partnership that holds shares in Hydro One.
Just four Ontario First Nations did not accept the sale: Mississaugas of the New Credit, Chippewas of Nawash, Saugeen and North Spirit Lake First Nation refused.
Those communities will not see future dividends from the investment and the remaining 129 First Nations that accepted the offer, including Six Nations, can expect to see funds in about five years, Hill says.
The elected chief says it is a long term investment and that the Elected Council will begin discussions soon on what should be done with the money coming through from this avenue.
Chiefs of Ontario say for now the partnership will follow dispersion guidelines similar to the OLG funds coming through the Ontario First Nation LP but say that is not the final dispersion model.
The limited partnership, called Sovereignty Wealth LP — will collectively hold the shares. Ontario is providing a 25 year loan of up to $268 million dollars for the purchase of the shares.
In addition to the loan the province is offering $45 million dollars for seed capital over the course of three years.
Hill says the Chiefs of Ontario have agreed to bank that seed money for at least twelve years to collect interest as an investment into the future generations.
In it’s first official announcement of 2018, Ontario announced the completion of the sale of 14,391,012 common shares of Hydro One Limited to OFN Power Holdings LP – the corporate body that is holding the shares.
That body is owned by a second partnership — Ontario First Nations Sovereign Wealth LP, which is in turn owned by 129 First Nations in Ontario.
Shares were offered to the communities at $18 per share for a total purchase price of $259,038,216.
The purchase is financed through a 25-year term loan from the Province with a principal amount of $259,038,216. The interest rate for the term loan is at the Province’s relevant borrowing rate, plus 15 basis points. The shares sold in the transaction have been pledged as security for the term loan provided by the Province. The Province has also provided seed capital of approximately $29 million in cash to a new investment fund wholly-owned by Ontario First Nations Sovereign Wealth LP.
Immediately prior to closing of the transaction, the Province owned 296,803,660 common shares of Hydro One Limited, representing approximately 49.9% of the common shares of Hydro One Limited. After completing the transaction, the Province owns 282,412,648 common shares of Hydro One Limited, representing approximately 47.4% of the common shares of Hydro One Limited.
