In the event of proration, the Fund will determine the proration factor and pay for those tendered Shares accepted for purchase as soon as practicable after the Termination Date. However, the Fund expects that it will not be able to announce the final results of any proration or commence payment for any Shares purchased pursuant to the Offer until at least three business days after the Termination Date.
If any tendered Shares are not accepted for purchase pursuant to the terms and conditions of the Offer for any reason, or are not paid because of an invalid tender, such unpurchased Shares will be returned, without expense to the tendering Shareholder, as soon as practicable following expiration or termination of the Offer.
If the Fund is delayed in its acceptance for purchase of, or in its payment for, Shares, or is unable to accept for purchase or pay for Shares pursuant to the Offer for any reason, then, without prejudice to the Fund’s rights under this Offer, the Depositary may, on behalf of the Fund, retain tendered Shares, and such Shares may not be withdrawn, except that Shareholders will have the right to withdraw the tender of Shares at any time after May 2, 2023, to the extent the Shares have not yet been accepted for purchase.
The purchase price of the Shares will equal their NAV as of the close of the customary trading session (normally 4:00 p.m. New York City time) on the NYSE on April 3, 2023, or such later date to which the Offer is extended. Tendering Shareholders may be required to pay brokerage commissions or fees. Under the circumstances set forth in Instruction 8 of the Letter of Transmittal, Shareholders may be subject to transfer taxes on the purchase of Shares by the Fund.
The Fund normally calculates the NAV of its Shares daily at the close of regular trading of the NYSE. On February 27, 2023, the NAV was $651.10 per Share. During the Offer, Shareholders may contact Georgeson LLC, the Fund’s Information Agent, toll free at (888) 565-5190, between 9:00 a.m. and 11:00 p.m., New York City time, Monday through Friday, to obtain the current NAV for the Shares.
3. Procedure for Tendering Shares. For a Shareholder validly to tender Shares pursuant to the Offer, a properly completed and duly executed Letter of Transmittal, together with any required signature guarantees, and any other documents required by the Letter of Transmittal, must be transmitted to and received by the Depositary by the Termination Date at one of its addresses set forth on the last page of this Offer to Purchase.
Signatures on Letters of Transmittal must be guaranteed by a firm which is a broker, dealer, commercial bank, credit union, savings association or other entity and which is a member in good standing of a stock transfer association’s approved medallion program (such as STAMP, SEMP or MSP) (each, an “Eligible Institution”) unless (i) the Letter of Transmittal is signed by the registered holder of the Shares tendered or (ii) such Shares are tendered for the account of an Eligible Institution. In all other cases, all signatures on the Letter of Transmittal must be guaranteed by an Eligible Institution. See Instruction 6 of the Letter of Transmittal for further information.
All questions as to the validity, form, eligibility (including time of receipt), payment and acceptance for purchase of any tender of Shares will be determined by the Fund in its sole discretion, which determination shall be final and binding. The Fund reserves the absolute right to reject any and all tenders of Shares it determines not to be in proper form or the acceptance for purchase of which may, in the opinion of its counsel, be unlawful. The Fund also reserves the absolute right to waive any of the conditions of the Offer or any defect or irregularity in the tender of any Shares. No tender of Shares will be deemed to have been validly made until all defects and irregularities have been cured or waived. None of the Fund, the Investment Adviser, the Sub-Adviser, the Information Agent, the Depositary or any other person shall be under any duty to give notification of any defects or irregularities in tenders, nor shall any of the foregoing incur any liability for failure to give any such notification. The Fund’s interpretation of the terms and conditions of the Offer (including the Letter of Transmittal and instructions thereto) will be final and binding.
Payment for Shares tendered and accepted for purchase pursuant to the Offer will be made, in all cases, only after timely receipt of (i) a properly completed and duly executed Letter of Transmittal (or facsimile thereof) for such Shares and (ii) any other documents required by the Letter of Transmittal. The tender of Shares pursuant to any of the procedures described in this Section 3 will constitute an agreement between the tendering Shareholder and the Fund upon the terms and subject to the conditions of the Offer.
The method of delivery of all required documents is at the election and risk of each tendering Shareholder. If delivery is by mail, registered mail with return receipt requested, properly insured, is recommended.
For a discussion of certain federal income tax consequences to tendering Shareholders, including with respect to the application of backup withholding on payments made to Shareholders, see Section 7.