01:12 PM EDT, 08/09/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Great-West Lifeco ( GWLIF ) Friday said it does not endorse an unsolicited mini-tender by by Okello Ltd, made to residents of Ireland, to purchase up to 50,000 common shares of the company.

The unsolicited offer represents a discount of approximately 39% to the closing price of the common shares on the TSX on July 29, the last trading day before the offer began.

"Lifeco does not endorse Okello's unsolicited offer, has no association with Okello or its offer, and does not recommend acceptance of the offer," reads the statement from Lifeco. "Okello's offer has been made at a price below the current market price for the shares."

Mini-tender offers such as Okello's seek less than 5% of a class of outstanding shares and so avoid many of the investor protections like disclosure and procedural protections applicable to most bids under Canadian law.

Securities regulators have expressed serious concerns about mini-tender offers, including the possibility that investors might tender to such offers without understanding the offer price relative to the actual market price of their securities.

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