PEORIA, Ill., July 28, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) today announced it entered into a definitive agreement with Citibank N.A. to purchase a total of $1.5 billion of its common stock under an accelerated stock repurchase transaction.
"The continued strength of our balance sheet and strong cash flow allow us to return capital to stockholders despite weakness in the cyclical industries we serve," said Caterpillar Chairman and CEO Doug Oberhelman. "Repurchasing an additional $1.5 billion of Caterpillar stock in the third quarter of 2015 will bring our total 2015 stock repurchases to approximately $2 billion. In addition to the stock repurchase, our Board of Directors recently raised the quarterly dividend by 10 percent, further demonstrating our commitment to stockholders."
Pursuant to the terms of the accelerated stock repurchase agreement, Caterpillar agreed to repurchase a total of $1.5 billion of its common stock from Citibank N.A., with an immediate delivery of approximately 18 million shares based on current market prices. The final number of shares to be repurchased and the aggregate cost per share to Caterpillar will be based on Caterpillar's volume-weighted average stock price during the term of the transaction, which is expected to be completed in September 2015. In January 2014, the Board of Directors authorized the repurchase of $10 billion of Caterpillar stock, which will expire on December 31, 2018. Through the end of the second quarter of 2015, approximately $3 billion of the $10 billion authorization was spent.
About Caterpillar
For 90 years, Caterpillar Inc. has been making sustainable progress possible and driving positive change on every continent. Customers turn to Caterpillar to help them develop infrastructure, energy and natural resource assets. With 2014 sales and revenues of $55.184 billion, Caterpillar is the world's leading manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines and diesel-electric locomotives. The company principally operates through its three product segments - Construction Industries, Resource Industries and Energy & Transportation - and also provides financing and related services through its Financial Products segment. For more information, visit caterpillar.com. To connect with us on social media, visit caterpillar.com/social-media.
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements in this press release relate to future events and expectations and are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as "believe," "estimate," "will be," "will," "would," "expect," "anticipate," "plan," "project," "intend," "could," "should" or other similar words or expressions often identify forward-looking statements. All statements other than statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, statements regarding our outlook, projections, forecasts or trend descriptions. These statements do not guarantee future performance, and we do not undertake to update our forward-looking statements.
Caterpillar's actual results may differ materially from those described or implied in our forward-looking statements based on a number of factors, including, but not limited to: (i) global and regional economic conditions and economic conditions in the industries we serve; (ii) government monetary or fiscal policies and infrastructure spending; (iii) commodity price changes, component price increases, fluctuations in demand for our products or significant shortages of component products; (iv) disruptions or volatility in global financial markets limiting our sources of liquidity or the liquidity of our customers, dealers and suppliers; (v) political and economic risks, commercial instability and events beyond our control in the countries in which we operate; (vi) failure to maintain our credit ratings and potential resulting increases to our cost of borrowing and adverse effects on our cost of funds, liquidity, competitive position and access to capital markets; (vii) our Financial Products segment's risks associated with the financial services industry; (viii) changes in interest rates or market liquidity conditions; (ix) an increase in delinquencies, repossessions or net losses of Cat Financial's customers; (x) new regulations or changes in financial services regulations; (xi) a failure to realize, or a delay in realizing, all of the anticipated benefits of our acquisitions, joint ventures or divestitures; (xii) international trade policies and their impact on demand for our products and our competitive position; (xiii) our ability to develop, produce and market quality products that meet our customers' needs; (xiv) the impact of the highly competitive environment in which we operate on our sales and pricing; (xv) failure to realize all of the anticipated benefits from initiatives to increase our productivity, efficiency and cash flow and to reduce costs; (xvi) additional restructuring costs or a failure to realize anticipated savings or benefits from past or future cost reduction actions; (xvii) inventory management decisions and sourcing practices of our dealers and our OEM customers; (xviii) compliance with environmental laws and regulations; (xix) alleged or actual violations of trade or anti-corruption laws and regulations; (xx) additional tax expense or exposure; (xxi) currency fluctuations; (xxii) our or Cat Financial's compliance with financial covenants; (xxiii) increased pension plan funding obligations; (xxiv) union disputes or other employee relations issues; (xxv) significant legal proceedings, claims, lawsuits or government investigations; (xxvi) changes in accounting standards; (xxvii) failure or breach of IT security; (xxviii) adverse effects of unexpected events including natural disasters; and (xxix) other factors described in more detail under "Item 1A. Risk Factors" in our Form 10-K filed with the SEC on February 17, 2015, for the year ended December 31, 2014.
To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/caterpillar-announces-15-billion-accelerated-stock-repurchase-300118589.html
SOURCE Caterpillar Inc.