Good afternoon. My name is David, and I will be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the Cenovus Special Meeting of Shareholders. I will now turn the meeting over to Mr. Brett Harris, Manager, Internal and External Communication. Mr. Harris, you may begin your meeting.
Thank you, Operator, and good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. I'm Brett Harris from Cenovus Energy, and welcome to Cenovus' virtual special meeting of shareholders. Due to the unprecedented public health impact of COVID-19 and in alignment with the public health measures in place in Alberta, Cenovus is holding its special shareholders' meeting in this virtual format to help mitigate health and safety risks to our community, shareholders, employees, and other stakeholders. If at any time during the meeting you experience technical difficulties, please use the technical support button on the broadcast section of your screen. If you are a shareholder or a proxy holder, you may submit questions at any time during the meeting by selecting the messaging icon on the information section of the screen and then typing in your question.
Now, please note that questions must be related to the business of today's shareholder meeting. That is, the shareholder resolution that is being voted on and can be found at Appendix C of the Joint Management Information Circular dated November 9, 2020. When answering your questions, we may aggregate similar questions, and any questions of a general nature that we do not address here, we will try to answer on the Cenovus and Husky transaction page of the Cenovus website as soon as we are able to in the coming days. Now, I will ask Keith MacPhail, Chair of the Board of Cenovus, to call the meeting to order. Mr. MacPhail.
Thank you, Mr. Harris, and good afternoon, and welcome to Cenovus' special meeting of shareholders. In accordance with Cenovus' bylaws, I will chair the meeting, and Gary Molnar, our Corporate Secretary, will act as Secretary, and Stephen Bandola from Computershare Investor Services will act as Scrutineer. The record date for determining shareholders entitled to receive notice of and vote at this meeting was fixed at November 9, 2020. I have been advised by the Secretary that notice of this special meeting was properly given, and a quorum is present. Accordingly, I declare the meeting properly called and constituted for the transaction of business. The reading of the notice of meeting will be dispensed with, and I will direct the Secretary to include with the minutes a copy of the meeting materials, confirmation of mailing to shareholders, and the report on attendance. I now call the meeting to order.
Alex Pourbaix, our President and Chief Executive Officer, is present with us today, and our Cenovus board members and leadership team are joining us virtually. The business of today's meeting is described in the notice of meeting and Joint Management Information Circular dated November 9, 2020, that was delivered and filed in advance of this meeting. A link to the circular is available on the file icon on the information section of your screen and can also be found on Cenovus' website. At today's meeting, shareholders are being asked to consider and vote on the resolution approving the issuance of common shares and warrants of Cenovus in connection with the proposed acquisition by Cenovus of all of the outstanding shares of Husky Energy Inc, and related amendments to Cenovus' shareholder rights plan, all as set forth on pages 128 and 129 and in Appendix C of the circular.
For efficiency, we have prearranged for Alex Pourbaix and Gary Molnar, both Cenovus shareholders, to move and second the formal business motions. The polls are now open for voting on the item of business. As mentioned earlier, voting will be conducted by online polling, and your voting options should be visible on your screen if you are a registered shareholder or a duly appointed proxy holder. If you have already voted, you do not need to take any further action unless you would like to change your vote. Could I have a motion on this matter?
I move that the resolution set forth in Appendix C of the circular for this meeting be approved.
Thank you, Mr. Pourbaix. Is there a seconder for the motion?
Mr. Chair, I second the motion.
Thank you, Mr. Molnar. As there is an audio time delay associated with this webcast, we will now pause for approximately 60 seconds to ensure that participants in today's meeting have time to type in their questions relating to the business of the meeting.
Are there any questions on the motion?
Mr. Chair, there are no questions on the motion.
We will pause for another brief period to allow those voting online ample time to do so now. In order to be passed, the resolution requires the approval by a simple majority of the votes cast by shareholders who voted at this meeting or by proxy. Online polling is now closed. I have received the scrutineer's report and confirm that the resolution set forth in Appendix C of the circular has been passed by more than 93% of the votes cast by shareholders at the meeting. I direct the Secretary to file the final scrutineer's report with the minutes of the meeting. Details of the voting results will be filed with securities regulators and included in our news release following the meeting. There are no further businesses to be conducted at today's meeting. Could I have a motion to conclude the meeting?
I move that this meeting conclude.
Mr. Chair, I second the motion.
Thank you. I declare the formal business of the meeting concluded. I would like to take this moment to recognize Su Dabarno, Steven Leer, and George Lewis for their service to Cenovus in the role of Director. They have each brought their expertise and vision to Cenovus' Board of Directors and on behalf of the Board of the company, I would like to thank them for their contributions. Following the completion of the arrangement to combine the two companies, the Board of Directors will consist of eight members of the current Cenovus Board and four members of the current Husky Board. I will now hand things over to Alex Pourbaix, Cenovus' President and CEO.
Thanks, Keith, and good afternoon, everyone. Before I proceed, please note the advisory on the screen. It refers to what I am about to discuss. Additional information about our forward-looking statements can be found in the Joint Information Management Circular and October 25th news release announcing the Cenovus and Husky transaction. This is a defining moment for Cenovus, for our shareholders, and for the combined staff of these two great Canadian companies. From its beginnings as a small refinery more than 80 years ago, Husky grew to become one of Canada's top integrated oil and gas producers. It has a diverse, high-quality asset base with an established retail brand. While Cenovus has been an independent company for just over a decade, through our predecessor companies, our roots go back to the formation of the Canadian Pacific Railway in the 1880s.
Today, you have overwhelmingly supported our proposal to combine these two companies into a resilient Canadian energy leader. This follows a separate vote by Husky security holders earlier today who also overwhelmingly supported the proposed transaction. As I've said before, it is extremely unique for the assets of two companies to complement each other so well. This transaction will bring together Cenovus' top-tier SAGD assets at Foster Creek and Christina Lake and Husky's extensive refining and upgrading network. We'll also have cash flow generated by Husky's upstream assets, including its thermal and oil sands portfolio in Western Canada and its natural gas and liquids business. Let me remind you briefly of the benefits of this combination. On day one, it will be accretive to Cenovus' cash flow per share and free funds flow.
Subject to board approval, we anticipate the restatement of an annual dividend of $0.07 per share. We have identified $1.2 billion in annual cost and capital synergies that will contribute to the expected increase in free funds flow. We are confident that we can achieve the bulk of those within the first year. The combined company will have a balanced portfolio integrated across the full value chain. This transaction supports strong credit metrics, accelerated deleveraging of Cenovus' balance sheet, as well as enhanced ability to return capital to shareholders. I am also confident the combined company will further advance our shared values of environment, social, and government leadership. This includes our shared ambition to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
With the achievement of this significant milestone today, we will be fully focused on securing the remaining regulatory and court approvals to close the transaction, safely and efficiently integrating the assets and people of both companies, and achieving the planned $1.2 billion in annual synergies we've identified. With the global pandemic and its impact on benchmark commodity prices, these past few months have been challenging ones for our industry. Today, there is significant cause for optimism. The launch of new vaccines offers hope that the pandemic could end next year. In the meantime, we'll continue to be vigilant about protecting the health and safety of our staff. With the expected close of this transaction early in January, I'm confident our combined company will be stronger, more competitive, efficient, and profitable than either company on its own.
On behalf of Cenovus' Board of Directors, I would like to sincerely thank Rob Peabody, my counterpart at Husky, as well as his leadership team and staff for their dedicated work in helping us achieve this milestone. Thanks also to our incredible team at Cenovus for their tireless work. Thanks to you, our shareholders, for supporting this strategic combination. I look forward to continuing our journey together, and I wish everyone a safe and happy holiday and New Year. That concludes our special meeting of shareholders. Thanks to everyone for joining us.