PHILADELPHIA, Dec. 5, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Aberdeen
Greater China Fund, Inc. (the "Fund") (NYSE: GCH), announced today
that the Fund's Board of Directors has declared a long-term capital
gain distribution in the amount of $1.3369 per share.
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)
The distribution will be payable on January 31, 2014 to stockholders of record on
December 20, 2013. The
distribution will be paid in shares of the Fund's common
stock. Stockholders may, however, request that their
distribution be paid in cash in lieu of common stock. The
Fund will limit the aggregate amount of cash to be paid out in the
distribution to all stockholders to 20% of the aggregate dollar
amount of the total distribution. Any cash paid in lieu of
fractional shares will not count toward this limit. If cash
distribution requests exceed this limit, the Fund will pro-rate the
cash distribution among all stockholders who have made such
requests, based on the amounts requested. Stockholders
electing cash, who do not receive 100% of the distribution in cash,
will receive the balance in shares of common stock of the Fund.
Stockholder requests to receive cash in lieu of stock must be
received by Computershare Shareowner Services, LLC, the Fund's
Election Agent, not later than 4:00
p.m. (New York time) on
January 22, 2014. All
fractional shares will be paid in cash.
The per share value of shares of the Fund's common stock to be
issued in the distribution will be determined on January 23, 2014. The per share value will
be the average trading price of the Fund's common shares on the New
York Stock Exchange as of the close of trading during a
three-business day period ending on January
23, 2014. Although the distribution is payable in
2014, it will be treated as having been paid by the Fund and
received by stockholders as of December 31,
2013.
The Board of Directors considered available options, including
an all-cash distribution and a cash election distribution with
higher caps or no cap on the cash component, and approved the
capped cash election distribution at the proposed 20% level for the
following reasons:
- The size of the distribution relative to the size of the
Fund.
- The adverse long-term impact on the Fund's gross total expense
ratio and investable capital if the distribution was paid entirely
in cash.
- The potential market impact of selling the Fund's portfolio
securities at a time when market conditions may be less favorable
to stockholders' long-term interests and the transaction costs
associated with such disposals.
- The tax implications if further gains were generated as a
result of the sale of portfolio securities to raise cash to meet an
all-cash or high-cash distribution.
A written notice of the planned distribution will be sent to
stockholders. The written notice will include instructions on
how stockholders can request to receive cash in lieu of stock.
Stockholders who have questions regarding the distribution may
contact AST Fund Solutions, LLC at 1-866-530-8655.
Aberdeen Greater China Fund, Inc. is a closed-end management
investment company that seeks long-term capital appreciation
through investment in listed equity securities of China companies that (i) are organized under
the laws of, and have their principal place of business in,
China and/or Hong Kong and/or Taiwan; or (ii) during their most recent
fiscal year derived at least 50% of their revenues or profits from
goods produced or sold, investments made or services performed in
China and/or Hong Kong and/or Taiwan or have at least 50% of their assets in
China and/or Hong Kong and/or Taiwan. The Fund's shares are traded on the
New York Stock Exchange under the trading symbol "GCH."
International investing entails special risk considerations,
including currency fluctuations, lower liquidity, economic and
political risks, and differences in accounting methods; these risks
are generally heightened for emerging market investments.
Concentrating investments in the China region subjects the Fund to more
volatility and greater risk of loss than geographically diverse
funds. Equity stocks of small and mid-cap companies carry greater
risk, and more volatility than equity stocks of larger, more
established companies.
Closed-end funds are traded on the secondary market through one
of the stock exchanges. The Fund's investment return and principal
value will fluctuate so that an investor's shares may be worth more
or less than the original cost. Shares of closed-end funds may
trade above (a premium) or below (a discount) the net asset value
(NAV) of the fund's portfolio. There is no assurance that a fund
will achieve its investment objective. Past performance does not
guarantee future results.
If you wish to receive this information
electronically, please contact:
InvestorRelations@aberdeen-asset.com
www.aberdeengch.com
SOURCE Aberdeen Greater China Fund, Inc.