The Toronto Stock Exchange has approved the annual renewal of Thomson Reuters Corp.'s normal course issuer bid.
Under the renewed normal course issuer bid, the company may now buy up to 35.5 million common shares, representing roughly 5% of its total outstanding shares, between May 30 and May 29, 2019.
The company will pay market price for the shares.
For the current bid that expires May 29, the company repurchased approximately 12.4 million common shares through May 17 for about $560.0 million, at an average price of $45.17 per share.
On May 11, Thomson Reuters announced that it may repurchase up to $500 million of its shares prior to the closing of its proposed sale of a 55% interest in its financial and risk business. Repurchases under this program commenced under the current normal course issuer bid and are expected to continue under the renewed normal course issuer bid. Through May 17, the company has repurchased roughly $20.6 million of shares under this program.
The company currently expects to use between $9 billion and $10 billion of the estimated $17 billion of gross proceeds of the transaction to return capital to its shareholders through the substantial issuer bid/tender offer.
