ADM (NYSE: ADM) shares climbed the charts Wednesday on word today it has entered into an accelerated share repurchase (ASR) agreement with delayed share delivery with Merrill Lynch International to repurchase $1 billion of ADM’s common stock.
“We finished 2023 with strong momentum in terms of returning cash to our shareholders, and we will continue to prioritize shareholders in our cash deployment in 2024,” CEO Juan Luciano said. “After repurchasing $1.5 billion of shares in Q4 2023 and nearly $330 million of shares so far in Q1 2024, we are accelerating our program, with an intention to actualize $2 billion of additional share repurchases during the remainder of the year, including $1 billion of which will be executed through this accelerated share repurchase program, which runs through the second quarter.”
Under the ASR agreement, ADM will receive monthly share deliveries at the end of each month commencing in March 2024. The total number of shares to be repurchased through the ASR will be determined using a formula based on ADM’s share price during the term of the transaction, with the purchase price determined using a formula based on ADM’s daily volume-weighted average price during the term of the transaction, net of a discount, and is expected to be completed no later than the end of the second quarter of 2024.
ADM shares galloped $1.88, or 3.3%, to $58.95.
