Netherlands-based Ahold Delhaize has commenced a €1 billion share buyback programme, which it expects to complete by the end of 2017.
The programme, which was initially announced on 7 December last, will enable Ahold Delhaize to maintain ‘a balanced approach between funding growth in key channels and [return] excess liquidity to shareholders’, part of the group’s Better Together strategy.
The purpose of the share buyback programme is to reduce the capital of Ahold Delhaize, by cancelling all or part of the common shares acquired through the programme.
The retailer plans to provide regular updates on the programme’s progress over the coming year, as well as at the group’s general meeting on April 12 next.
The programme will be executed by intermediaries, ‘allowing the execution of share repurchases in the open market during open and closed periods’, the retailer said.
© 2017 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Stephen Wynne-Jones. To subscribe to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine, click here.
