Topic: How To Invest

Q: My daughter bought shares in Loblaw last year and now with the recent changes has 13 shares of George Weston. She would like to add to her Loblaw shares, but is not sure what to do with her George Weston shares. Would it make sense to sell them and just add to her Loblaw shares or keep both and add to the George Weston holdings?

Article Excerpt

A: Loblaw Companies, $64.96, symbol L on Toronto (Shares outstanding: 369.0 million; Market cap: $24.0 billion; www.loblaw.ca), transferred its stake in Choice Properties REIT (symbol CHP.UN on Toronto) to its parent company George Weston Ltd., $91.86, symbol WN on Toronto (Shares outstanding: 153.4 million; Market cap: $14.3 billion; www.weston.ca), on November 1, 2018. Under the terms of the deal, Loblaw shareholders received 0.135 of a Weston common share for each L share they held. They will only pay capital gains taxes on their new Weston shares when they sell them. George Weston now owns 50.4% of Loblaw and 65.4% of Choice Properties REIT. It also makes a number of products through Weston Foods. They include fresh and frozen bakery goods in Canada, and biscuits, cookies, cones and wafers in the U.S. Meanwhile, the transaction means that many Loblaw shareholders, like your daughter, now hold “odd lots” (less than a “board lot,” which is in most cases an even 100 shares). Note that from time…