SAMPO PLC STOCK EXCHANGE RELEASE 30 March 2022 at 11:30 am
Sampo returns excess capital by launching a new share buyback programme
The Board of Directors of Sampo plc has today decided to launch a new buyback programme for Sampo A shares based on the authorisation granted by Annual General Meeting on 19 May 2021.
The aggregate purchase price of all Sampo A shares to be acquired under the buyback programme shall not exceed EUR 250 million. The maximum amount of Sampo A shares that can be repurchased is 6.7 million shares corresponding to approximately 1.2 per cent of the total number of shares in Sampo, which is 555,351,850 shares on the date of this release.
- Sampo aims to operate a strong and efficient balance sheet, in line with our targets on solvency and leverage. The buyback programme announced today will allow us to deploy up to EUR 250 million of our excess capital ahead of the 2022 AGM, says Torbjörn Magnusson, Group CEO and President.
The buyback programme will reduce Sampo plc's capital and funds available for distribution of profit. The repurchased shares will be cancelled.
The share repurchases will start at the earliest on 31 March 2022 and end by latest 17 May 2022. The price payable per share shall be determined by the pricing obtainable on the relevant trading venue. The minimum price to be paid would be the lowest market price of the share quoted during the authorisation period and the maximum price the highest market price quoted during the authorisation period. The shares will be acquired through public trading on Nasdaq Helsinki, CBOE, Turquoise and Aquis.
The repurchases will be made in accordance with the safe harbour arrangement of Article 5 of the EU Market Abuse Regulation. Sampo has appointed BNP Paribas Exane as the lead manager for the share buyback programme. The lead manager will make trading decisions independently of and without influence from Sampo, within the announced limits.
Sampo finished its previous share repurchase programme on 25 March 2022. At the moment of the publication of this release, the company holds 17,128,505 Sampo A shares bought under the buyback programme which began on 4 October 2021. The amount of own shares held by the company corresponds to 3.08 per cent of the total number of its own shares.
SAMPO PLC
Board of Directors
For further information, please contact:
Sami Taipalus
Head of Investor Relations
tel. +358 10 516 0030
Maria Silander
Communications Manager, Media Relations
tel. +358 10 516 0031
Distribution:
Nasdaq Helsinki
London Stock Exchange
The principal media
Financial Supervisory Authority
www.sampo.com
