Claymore announces leading independent proxy firm recommends Claymore Fund securityholders vote for proposed acquisition of Claymore by BlackRock
TORONTO, Feb. 13, 2012 /CNW/ - Claymore Investments, Inc. ("Claymore"), the manager of various exchange-traded funds and closed-end funds (collectively, the "Claymore Funds"), today announced that Institutional Shareholder Services Inc. ("ISS") has recommended that Claymore Fund securityholders vote FOR the proposed acquisition of Claymore by BlackRock, Inc. (the "Acquisition").
ISS summarized its recommendation as follows: "Vote FOR since securityholders will be substantially unaffected by the change in manager and no significant corporate governance concerns are identified."
The Advisory Board of each Claymore Fund organized as a trust and the independent members of the Board of Directors of the Claymore Fund organized as a corporation have also recommended that securityholders vote in favour of the Acquisition.
Meetings to seek securityholder approval of the Acquisition are scheduled for 8:30 a.m. (Toronto time) on February 24, 2012. Securityholders are strongly encouraged to vote well in advance of the February 22, 2012 deadline for the deposit of proxies. Securityholders are urged to vote today by telephone or over the Internet at www.proxyvote.com using the control number found on their Voting Instruction Form.
The management information circular of the Claymore Funds, which provides a detailed discussion of the Acquisition, is available on the Claymore Funds' website at http://www.claymoreinvestments.ca/docs/default-document-library/notice-of-meeting-of-securityholders-and-management-information-circular.pdf and on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.
The Acquisition is subject to, among other conditions, obtaining all required regulatory approvals, and is expected to close in March 2012.
Securityholders who have questions or need any additional information should contact their professional advisors or Laurel Hill Advisory Group, the proxy solicitation agent in connection with the meetings, toll-free within North America at 1-888-742-1305 or collect 416-304-0211, or by email to: assistance@laurelhill.com.
Additional Information about ISS
As noted on ISS' website, for 25 years, ISS has been the leading provider of proxy research to institutional investors. ISS' proxy research allows investors to understand corporate governance risk and take appropriate proxy voting action. Investors, regulators and media regularly turn to ISS experts for insight and data on trends in, among other things, corporate governance and proxy voting operations and mechanics.
About Claymore
Claymore Investments, Inc. is a leader in bringing intelligent, low cost exchange-traded funds to Canada through its family of exchange-traded and closed-end funds across broad asset classes including core equity, global sectors, fixed income and commodities. With approximately $7.5 billion in assets under management as of January 31, 2012, Claymore Investments, Inc. is a subsidiary of Guggenheim Funds Services Group, Inc., a financial services and asset management company based in the Chicago, Illinois area and is an indirect subsidiary of Guggenheim Partners, LLC, a global, diversified financial services firm with more than $125 billion in assets under supervision.
For further information about Claymore Investments, Inc. or the Claymore Funds, please visit our website at www.claymoreinvestments.ca.
Claymore Investments, Inc.
Dan Rubin
Vice-President, Marketing
(416) 813-2018
drubin@claymoreinvestments.ca
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