By Oystein Bergmann, Bureau Chief, Scandinavia
In line with the share buyback programme announced on 25 January 2024, Nokia Corporation has today decided to launch the first phase of the share buyback program.
The main terms of the first phase of the share buyback programme:
The aggregate purchase price of all Nokia shares to be acquired shall not exceed EUR 300 million.
The repurchases will start at the earliest on 20 March 2024 and end by 18 December 2024.
The purpose of the repurchases is to optimize Nokia’s capital structure through the reduction of capital. The repurchased shares will be cancelled accordingly. The repurchases will be funded using funds in the reserve for invested unrestricted equity and the repurchases will reduce total unrestricted equity.
The repurchases are based on the authorization granted by Nokia’s Annual General Meeting on April 4, 2023. The maximum number of shares that can be repurchased under the first phase of the programme is 200 million shares corresponding to approximately 4 per cent of the total number of shares in Nokia.
The shares will be acquired through public trading on the regulated market of Nasdaq Helsinki and select multilateral trading facilities. No repurchases will be made in the United States. Nokia has appointed a third-party broker as the lead-manager for the first phase of the buyback programme. The lead-manager will make trading decisions independently of and without influence from Nokia. The repurchases will be carried out in accordance with the so-called safe harbour rules referred to in Article 5 of the EU Market Abuse Regulation (EU N:o 596/2014).
The price payable per share shall be determined in public trading on the relevant trading venue at the time of the repurchase, in compliance with the price and volume limits applicable under the safe harbour rules.
Nokia may terminate the programme prior to its scheduled end date and will in such case issue a stock exchange release to this effect.
