Topic: How To Invest

Hi Pat, I recently bought Canadian Tire’s voting shares, symbol CTC, by mistake instead of the non-voting shares you recommend, symbol CTC.A. Do you recommend CTC shares? And could you explain the difference? Many thanks.

Article Excerpt

Canadian Tire Corp., Toronto symbols CTC.A, $71.75, and CTC, $86.00 (Shares outstanding: 81.1 million; Market cap: $5.9 billion; www.canadiantire.ca), has two classes of shares: The common shares (symbol CTC) carry one vote per share and the class A shares (symbol CTC.A) are non-voting. Investors can buy either class of share. Canadian Tire is a recommendation of our Successful Investor newsletter. Most firms with two classes of shares have a “coattail provision,” which aims to ensure that both share classes have equal rights in the event of a takeover. So if you hold non-voting or subordinate-voting shares, you won’t miss out on a takeover bid. For example, Canadian Tire’s non-voting class A shares would carry one vote per share in the event of a takeover offer, just like the common shares. If a company’s two share classes trade for roughly the same price, you’re better off buying the voting shares. That’s because the voting shares may move substantially higher than the…