Fonterra confirms further details of Transitional Buyback
16 March 2023
Fonterra confirms further details of Transitional Buyback
Alongside the release of Fonterra’s Interim Results and confirmation that Flexible Shareholding will take
effect on Tuesday 28 March, the Co-operative is today announcing further details of its on-market share
buyback programme (Transitional Buyback).
The Transitional Buyback will commence on 28 March 2023 and is expected to continue until 9 June
2023. It will replace the current $50 million buyback programme, which will end on 27 March 2023.
As previously announced, Fonterra has allocated up to $300 million for a package of liquidity support
measures. This includes the Transitional Buyback, which is aimed at supporting liquidity in the Fonterra
Shareholders’ Market (FSM) as shareholders transition to the new Flexible Shareholding capital structure,
and new market maker arrangements that are designed to support liquidity over the long term.
The Transitional Buyback will be structured in a way that gives the Co-operative capacity to buy back
shares throughout the entire 11-week period referred to above. This involves having capacity to buy
shares in each week as well as additional flexibility to accommodate different levels of liquidity across the
period.
The maximum number of Co-operative Shares that may be acquired as part of this Transitional Buyback
is 75 million. This limit has been set in accordance with section 65 of the Companies Act. It represents no
more than 5% of the shares on issue as at the date 12 months prior to the acquisition of shares, less any
other shares acquired under section 65 in the previous 12 months (including shares purchased as part of
the $50 million buyback).
Fonterra will acquire shares at prevailing market prices during the term of the Transitional Buyback. It will
only purchase shares under the Transitional Buyback where Fonterra believes the price represents value
to the Co-operative and is in the best interests of Fonterra and its shareholders. The prices at which
shares are acquired under the Transitional Buyback may not be indicative of Fonterra’s long-term view of
the value of its shares. Shareholders should seek advice from their financial advisor, accountant, lawyer
or rural professional before making any decisions about the sale or purchase of shares.
The number of shares purchased under the Transitional Buyback from time to time, and the average
price, will be notified to the NZX and ASX on the business day following the date on which those shares
are bought.
Throughout the Transitional Buyback period, Fonterra will continue to assess market conditions, its
prevailing share price, available investment opportunities and all other relevant considerations. Fonterra
reserves the right to extend, suspend without notice or terminate the buyback programme at any time.
Shares bought back will be cancelled upon acquisition, so the number of shares on issue will reduce
accordingly.
Fonterra Co-operative Group
Page 2
Fonterra’s farmer directors (and other persons to whom Fonterra’s Securities Trading Policy and Standard
apply) and their associated entities have, during Fonterra’s capital structure review process, been
restricted by Fonterra from trading Fonterra securities and units in the Fonterra Shareholders’ Fund
(Units).
As a result of the announcements by the Co-operative today, Fonterra has determined that those persons
will again be able to trade Fonterra securities and Units in accordance with Fonterra’s Securities Trading
Policy. They and their associated entities may now wish to do so – e.g., to achieve their desired
correlation between shareholding and supply for the purposes of the Co-operative’s Share Standard.
This announcement is made in accordance with FSM Listing Rule 3.12.2.
ENDS
For further information contact:
Fonterra Communications
24-hour media line
Phone: +64 21 507 072
Data sourced from publicly available filings. Our datasets may not be complete. Automated analysis can produce errors. If you believe any data on this page is incorrect, please contact us at hello@nzxplorer.co.nz. For informational purposes only. Not investment advice.
Other issuers discussed similar conditions around this time
Matched by meaning across NZX announcement text, not keywords — based on our semantic index of announcement bodies.
- FCG — Fonterra Co-operative Group Limited: Fonterra confirms further details of Transitional Buyback2023-03-15
“16 March 2023 Fonterra confirms further details of Transitional Buyback Alongside the release of Fonterra’s Interim Results and confirmation that Flexible Shareholding will take effect on Tuesday 28 March, the Co-operative is today announcing further details of its on-mark…”
- FCG — Fonterra Co-operative Group Limited: Notice of on-market share buyback2023-04-26
“1 Notice of acquisition of shares under on-market share buyback programme announced on 16 March 2023 Section 1: Issuer information Name of issuer Fonterra Co-operative Group Limited (Fonterra) NZX ticker code FCG Class of financial product Ordinary shares ISIN NZFCGE0…”
- FCG — Fonterra Co-operative Group Limited: Notice of on-market share buyback2023-01-03
“1 Notice of acquisition of shares under on-market share buyback programme announced on 8 June 2022 Section 1: Issuer information Name of issuer Fonterra Co-operative Group Limited (Fonterra) NZX ticker code FCG Class of financial product Ordinary shares ISIN NZFCGE000…”