2028 Investment Grade Bond Trust Completes Initial Public Offering for Aggregate Gross Proceeds of $32.5 Million

/NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO UNITED STATES NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES./

TORONTO, Dec. 21, 2023 /CNW/ - Next Edge Capital Corp. ("Next Edge" or the "Manager") is pleased to announce the closing of the initial public offering (the "Offering") of 2028 Investment Grade Bond Trust (the "Fund"). Pursuant to the Offering, the Fund issued an aggregate of 1,405,450 Class A Units and 1,844,550 Class F Units (collectively, the "Units") for gross proceeds of $32,500,000.

The Units were issued at a price of $10.00 per Class A Unit and $10.00 per Class F Unit. Following the closing of the Offering, the Class A Units were reclassified as Class F Units based on their respective NAV per Unit such that, currently, only Class F Units are outstanding. The Class F Units are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol "IGBT.UN".

The Fund has been created to acquire a portfolio comprised primarily of debt securities of Canadian companies. The Manager has retained Ridgewood Capital Asset Management Inc. to provide portfolio management services to the Fund.

The Fund's investment objectives are to: (i) preserve capital; and (ii) pay quarterly cash distributions, by investing primarily in corporate debt securities. At least 75% of the portfolio will be invested in investment grade securities and up to 25% of the portfolio may be invested in high yield debt securities. The portfolio is expected to be comprised primarily of eligible debt securities that have an average maturity of five (5) years or less and it is expected that the securities generally will be held by the Fund until their respective maturities. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Fund may sell or transfer eligible debt securities prior to their maturity.

The Fund will not have a fixed quarterly distribution amount but intends to make cash distributions quarterly. The Fund's quarterly distributions are targeted to be approximately $0.125 per Unit per quarter for the Fund's first four quarters of operation or $0.50 for the Fund's first year of operation.¹ The initial cash distribution is expected to be payable to unitholders of record on March 31, 2024.

The syndicate of agents for the Offering was led by National Bank Financial Inc. and included Scotiabank, CIBC Capital Markets, RBC Capital Markets, BMO Capital Markets, Canaccord Genuity Corp., Wellington-Altus Private Wealth Inc., iA Private Wealth Inc., Raymond James Ltd., Richardson Wealth Limited, Desjardins Securities Inc., Echelon Wealth Partners Inc., Independent Trading Group (ITG) Inc., Manulife Securities Incorporated, and Research Capital Corporation (collectively, the "Agents").

Next Edge is an investment fund manager and a leader in the structuring and distribution of alternative, private credit and value-added fund products in Canada. The firm is led by an experienced management team that has launched numerous investment solutions in a variety of product structures and has been responsible for raising over $3 billion of alternative assets since 2000.² Next Edge specializes and focuses on providing unique, non-correlated pooled investment vehicles to the Canadian marketplace.

Further information can be found at www.nextedgecapital.com or contact Next Edge at (416) 775-3600 or via email at [email protected].

Next Edge Capital Corp., 1 Toronto Street, Suite 200, Toronto, Ontario M5C 2V6.

The Offering is made only by prospectus. The prospectus contains important detailed information about the securities being offered. Copies of the prospectus may be obtained from any of the Agents. Investors should read the prospectus before making an investment decision.

There are ongoing fees and expenses associated with owning securities of an investment fund. An investment fund must prepare disclosure documents that contain key information about the fund. You can find more detailed information about the fund in these documents. Investment funds are not guaranteed, their values change frequently and past performance may not be repeated. 

The Units have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act"), or the securities laws of any state of the United States, and may not be offered or sold, directly or indirectly, in the United States (as defined in Regulation S under the U.S. Securities Act) unless registered under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable securities laws of any state of the United States or in reliance on an exemption from such registration requirements. This news release does not constitute an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to buy any of the Fund's securities referred to herein in the United States.

SOURCE 2028 Investment Grade Bond Trust