NEW YORK, April 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Loral Space & Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: LORL) today announced that its Board of Directors has declared a special dividend of $5.50 per share for an aggregate dividend of approximately $170.5 million. The dividend is payable on May 28, 2020 to holders of record of Loral voting and non-voting common stock as of the close of business on May 14, 2020. As of April 29, 2020, there were outstanding 21,427,078 shares of Loral voting common stock, 9,505,673 shares of Loral non-voting common stock and 75,262 restricted stock units.
Commenting on declaration of this special dividend, Michael B. Targoff, Vice Chairman of Loral's Board of Directors, explained that, "in an effort to maximize shareholder value, we have for some time been exploring, and are now in advanced discussions with our Canadian co-owner in Telesat, Public Sector Pension Investment Board ("PSP"), regarding the combination of Loral and Telesat into one public company." Mr. Targoff further explained that, "given the advanced state of the discussions regarding the combination transaction, it is now appropriate to pay to our shareholders a significant portion of the $243 million cash distribution that we previously received from Telesat." "It is our intention," Mr. Targoff continued, "to request that the Board declare an additional distribution to our shareholders in coordination with signing definitive agreements for the combination transaction."
Regarding today's dividend declaration, Dr. Mark Rachesky, Chairman of the Board of Loral, said: "I am pleased that the discussions with PSP regarding the strategic transaction that we have been pursuing have reached an advanced stage, and I am particularly gratified that, in addition to the more than $42 per share in dividends previously paid by Loral to its shareholders, we are now able to share additional significant proceeds with our shareholders due to the continued success of our investment in Telesat."
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