K+S starts share buyback in the amount of up to €200 million

The share buyback has a volume of up to €200 million and is to be completed by February 15, 2024 at the latest. At the current share price, this corresponds to a good 6% of market capitalization. 

In March of this year, the Supervisory Board and the Board of Executive Directors resolved to propose a dividend of €1.00 per share for the 2022 financial year to the Annual General Meeting and, in addition, to buy back own shares with an equivalent value of up to about €1 per share. K+S will distribute the capital repayment to shareholders 50 percent each between the two instruments of dividend payment and share buyback to meet the differing interests of institutional and private investors. The dividend payment totaling €191.4 million was effected on May 15. 

The buyback shall be carried out under the management of a credit institution, which shall make its decisions on the timing and amount of the individual order placements in accordance with Section 4 para. 2 lit. b) of the Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/1052 (hereinafter also referred to as the “Buyback Regulation”) independently and uninfluenced by K+S. The buyback is to be carried out via the stock exchange in electronic trading on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (Xetra) as well as via European multilateral trading facilities and in accordance with the provisions of the currently valid resolution of the Annual General Meeting. Accordingly, the purchase price per bought-back share (excluding incidental acquisition costs) may not be more than 10% higher or lower than the price of a K+S share determined by the opening auction in Xetra trading (or a comparable successor system) on the trading day. In accordance with the Buyback Regulation, no more than 25% of the average daily share turnover on the trading facility on which the respective purchase is made may be purchased on any one day. The average share turnover is derived from the average daily trading volume of the 20 trading days prior to the specific purchase date. Following the share buyback, the shares are to be cancelled.