BOSTON, March 16, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Eaton Vance
Floating-Rate Income Trust (NYSE: EFT), Eaton Vance Senior
Floating-Rate Trust (NYSE: EFR) and Eaton Vance New York Municipal
Income Trust (NYSE American: EVY) (each, a "Fund" and,
collectively, the "Funds") today announced that their Boards of
Trustees (the "Board") have taken the actions described below.
Conditional Tender Offers. The Board has authorized
a conditional cash tender offer for up to 25% of each Fund's
outstanding common shares at a price per share equal to 99% of the
Fund's net asset value per share as of the close of regular trading
on the New York Stock Exchange on the date the tender offer
expires. The tender offer is conditioned on shareholder
approval of the relevant Fund's new investment advisory agreement
with Eaton Vance Management, the Funds' investment adviser, at the
upcoming joint special meeting of shareholders to be held on
March 19, 2021 or an adjournment
thereof.
Additional terms and conditions of each tender offer will be set
forth in the associated Fund offering materials and additional
press releases, as applicable. If the number of shares
tendered in a tender offer exceeds the maximum amount of the tender
offer, the Fund will purchase shares from tendering shareholders on
a pro rata basis (disregarding fractional shares).
Accordingly, there is no assurance that a Fund will purchase
all of a shareholder's tendered common shares in a tender
offer. A Fund may determine not to accept shares tendered in
the tender offer under various circumstances, as will be set forth
in the offering materials.
EFT and EFR Conditional Distribution Rate Increase.
EFT and EFR also announced today that, if shareholders approve the
new investment advisory agreement at the upcoming joint special
meeting of shareholders, EFT and EFR will increase their regular
monthly distributions on common shares to $0.0775 and $0.0813
per share, respectively, representing an increase of approximately
25 percent from the March 2021
distributions of $0.0620 and
$0.0650 per share,
respectively. The distribution increases will commence with
the first monthly distribution announced following shareholder
approval of the relevant Fund's new investment advisory
agreement. By raising the Funds' regular monthly
distributions, the Board seeks to enhance long-term shareholder
value.
Fund distributions may include amounts from sources other than
net investment income. When that is estimated to be the case,
shareholders will be notified on a monthly basis. The final
determination of the tax character of Fund distributions will occur
after the end of each calendar year, at which time that
determination will be reported to shareholders. Fund
distributions in any period may be more or less than the net return
earned by the Fund on investments, and therefore should not be used
as a measure of performance or confused with "yield" or "income."
Distributions in excess of Fund returns will cause a Fund's net
assets and net asset value per share to decline.
For its fiscal year beginning on June 1,
2020 through February 28,
2021, EFT has distributed $0.549 per share, which is estimated to be
sourced from ordinary income. If EFT had adopted the
conditional distribution rate increase on June 1, 2020 and the condition described above
had been satisfied, its distributions for the fiscal year to date
through February 28, 2021 on a pro
forma basis would have been approximately $0.698 per share, an estimated 79% percent of
which would have been sourced from ordinary income and an estimated
21% from return of capital.
For its fiscal year beginning on November
1, 2020 through February 28,
2021, EFR has distributed $0.26 per share, which is estimated to be sourced
from ordinary income. If EFR had adopted the conditional
distribution rate increase on November 1,
2020 and the condition described above had been satisfied,
its distributions for the fiscal year to date through February 28, 2021 on a pro forma basis would have
been approximately $0.325 per share,
an estimated 80% of which would have been sourced from ordinary
income and an estimated 20% from return of capital.
Investors should not draw any conclusions about a Fund's
investment performance from the amount of its distributions.
Fund distributions may be affected by numerous factors, including
changes in Fund performance, the cost of leverage, portfolio
holdings, realized and projected returns, and other factors. There
can be no assurance that future Board action, an unanticipated
change in market conditions or other unforeseen factors will not
result in a change in the Fund's distributions at a future
time.
Eaton Vance Corp. was acquired by Morgan Stanley on March 1, 2021. Its Eaton Vance Management,
Parametric, Atlanta Capital and Calvert investment affiliates are
now part of Morgan Stanley Investment Management, the asset
management division of Morgan Stanley.
About the Funds
Except pursuant to a tender offer, common shares of the Funds
are available for purchase or sale only through secondary market
trading at their current market price. Shares of closed-end funds
(such as each Fund) often trade at a discount from their net asset
value. The market price of a closed-end fund's shares may vary from
net asset value based on factors affecting the supply and demand
for shares, such as fund distribution rates relative to similar
investments, investors' expectations for future distribution
changes, the clarity of a fund's investment strategy and future
return expectations, and investors' confidence in the underlying
markets in which the fund invests. Fund shares are subject to
investment risk, including possible loss of principal invested.
Shares of each Fund are not FDIC-insured and are not deposits or
other obligations of, or guaranteed by, any bank. Each Fund is not
a complete investment program and you may lose money investing in
the Fund. An investment in a Fund may not be appropriate for all
investors. Before investing, prospective investors should consider
carefully a Fund's investment objective, risks, charges and
expenses.
This announcement is not a recommendation, an offer to purchase
or a solicitation of an offer to sell shares of a Fund. The
Funds have not commenced the conditional tender offers described in
this release. Each tender offer will be made only if the
condition described above is satisfied, and only by an offer to
purchase, a related letter of transmittal and other documents filed
with the SEC as exhibits to a tender offer statement on Schedule
TO, with all such documents available on the SEC's website at
www.sec.gov. For a tender offer, the Fund will also make
available to shareholders without charge the offer to purchase and
the letter of transmittal. Shareholders should read these
documents carefully, as they would contain important information
about the tender offer.
This press release is for informational purposes only and is
not intended to, and does not, constitute an offer to purchase or
sell shares of the Funds. Additional information about the Funds,
including performance and portfolio characteristic information, is
available at www.eatonvance.com.
Statements in this press release that are not historical
facts may be forward-looking statements as defined by the U.S.
securities laws. You should exercise caution in interpreting and
relying on forward-looking statements because they are subject to
uncertainties and other factors that may be beyond a Fund's control
and could cause actual results to differ materially from those set
forth in the forward-looking statements.
Investor Contact: (800) 262-1122
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SOURCE Eaton Vance Management