Globe & Mail 07:51 AM EDT, 06/07/2022 (MT Newswires) -- West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. (TSX and NYSE: WFG) on Tuesday said it has completed its substantial issuer bid after buying for cancellation a total of 11.9 million common shares at a price of US$95.00 apiece for a total of US$1.13 billion.
The shares purchased represent about 11.7% of the total number of West Fraser's issued and outstanding shares and Class B shares when the bid was announced in late April. It will now have about 87.5 million common shares and 2.3 million Class B shares issued and outstanding. The company didn't buy any Class B shares under the bid.
"While we were able to return more than US$1.1 billion to participating shareholders, the fact that the tender offer was not oversubscribed suggests that many of our shareholders still see considerable upside value in our shares," said Ray Ferris, President and CEO, West Fraser.
The wood products company said that, since the completion of its Norbord acquisition in February 2021, it has repurchased 33.5 million shares through the completion of two substantial issuer bids as well as normal course issuer bids for a total of US$2.812 billion. Over the same period, it has returned about US$112 million to shareholders through dividends.