Lukoil to buy back 35 mln shares at 5,450 rubles each, gets offers for 82.9 mln
MOSCOW. August 19 (Interfax) - Lukoil has received applications from shareholder to sell 82.9 million shares in a public offer, the oil company said in a statement.
The public offer was made in keeping with a resolution passed at the AGM on June 20 to reduce the company's charter capital by acquiring 35,000,000 issued shares.
The company received applications for 82,891,133 shares during the public offer period, including an application for 36,624,079 shares from wholly owned subsidiary Lukoil Securities Limited.
The shares will be acquired on a pro rata basis. The shares will be acquired at the price of 5,450 rubles per share and paid for through August 28, 2019. The acquired shares will be cancelled immediately upon being entered on the Lukoil treasury account, which will result in the reduction of charter capital to 715 million ordinary shares.
Shares in Lukoil surged 5% on news of the buyback price to 5,251.5 rubles a share by 5:15 p.m. on the Moscow Exchange in volume of 4.773 billion rubles shares.
Lukoil announced a program to buy back shares and depositary receipts on the open market for up to $3 billion in August last year. The program runs from September 3, 2018 to December 30, 2022, but at the end of November 2018, Lukoil announced that it had decided to speed up the buyback and could complete the program in 2019. Lukoil planned to complete its buyback program by the time of its AGM on June 20, Alexander Matytsyn, the oil company's first vice president, told reporters on June 6.
Lukoil purchased 4.88% or 36,624,079 shares in the buyback, spending $2.9 billion, but the company might cancel less than half of those shares.
The shares were acquired by Lukoil Securities Limited, and the purpose of the AGM resolution to reduce charter capital by 35 million shares at 5,454 rubles each was to cancel those shares.
But if shares tendered during the public offer are to be acquired on a pro rata basis, then only 15,464,000 will be repurchased from Lukoil Securities Limited, which will be left with 21,159,900 shares on its balance sheet.
If charter capital is reduced to 715 million ordinary shares, Lukoil will still hold a 2.96% treasury stake.
Lukoil planned to approve a new buyback program once the results of the public offer have been tallied at the end of August.