Yara International ASA, Oslo, said earlier today it has now received the $1 billion sale proceeds from the transaction to sell its entire 25 percent stake in Qatar Fertiliser Co. (QAFCO) to Qatar Petroleum, Doha. The fertilizer group yesterday confirmed it had completed the transaction.
Yara will now initiate a share buy-back program for up to 8,551,880 of its shares outstanding on the open market. Including the proportional redemption of shares owned by the Norwegian state, the total buyback and redemption will amount to approximately 5.0 percent (13,406,611 shares) of shares outstanding. The share purchases will be carried out between Sept. 1, 2020 and March 23, 2021.