MONTREAL — Bombardier Inc. is seeking shareholder approval at its May annual meeting to allow the board of directors to consolidate and reduce the number of outstanding shares.

The change would see separate consolidations of the class A and class B shares.

The board would be allowed to consolidate the shares within a year at a ratio of between 10-for-one and 30-for-one.

The Montreal-based manufacturer of business jets says the consolidation is designed to reduce the number of common shares to a level comparable with companies of a similar market capitalization.

Bombardier has 2.37 billion outstanding shares in both classes with a market capitalization of $3.56 billion. Shares closed at $1.50 on Friday but have traded between 27.5 cents in 2020 and $5.58 two years earlier.

Bombardier has sold its commercial aircraft and railway manufacturing businesses to focus on business aviation.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 25, 2022.

Companies in this story: (TSX:BBD.B)

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