AXA to Buy Back Shares Worth Up to EUR1.4 Billion Under Wider Repurchase Program

By Joshua Kirby

AXA SA is to buy back shares of up to 1.4 billion euros ($1.6 billion) after reaching an agreement with an investment company, representing the bulk of a buyback set out earlier this month.

The French insurer said late Friday that it had reached an agreement with the unnamed investment-services provider as part of a wider program to repurchase shares worth up to EUR1.7 billion announced Nov. 4. According to the agreement, AXA will begin to buy back the shares Monday at a price determined by the daily average, and until the end of April next year, when the wider buyback is also scheduled to end.

The new agreement adds to the shares of around EUR300 million already bought back under the program since Nov. 8, AXA said.

All shares bought back are to be cancelled, AXA said. The company said when it first set out the program that it intended to launch a further buyback for up to EUR500 million next year to make up for earnings dilution from disposals since Dec. 1, 2020.

Write to Joshua Kirby at [e-mail]; @joshualeokirby

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 29, 2021 01:35 ET (06:35 GMT)

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