Sipchem shareholders approve buyback of 66.4 mln shares; authorize board to pay 2021 dividends

Logo of Sahara International Petrochemical

Sahara International Petrochemical Co.'s (Sipchem) shareholders approved the buyback of up to 66.35 million shares and allocating them as treasury shares, during an extraordinary general assembly meeting (EGM) held on May 24, 2021, according to a bourse filing.

The board of directors believes that the company's share price is less than its fair value, provided that the purchase of shares is financed from its own resources, the statement added.

Shareholders also authorized the board, or whoever it authorizes, to complete the purchase within a maximum period of 12 months from the date of the assembly's approval and retain them for a maximum period of five years from the date of the assembly's resolution.

They also authorized the board to distribute interim dividend on a quarterly or semi-annual basis for 2021.

According to data available with Argaam, shareholders agreed last year to buyback of up to 73.13 million shares and allocating them as treasury shares, if the share price is less than its fair value.

In September 2020, the first phase of the purchase process was completed with the buyback of about 2.5 million shares at a total value of SAR 39.02 million.

In January 2021, the second phase was completed with the buyback of 2.7 million shares at a value of SAR 40.3 million. The third phase was completed in April, with the purchase of 1 million shares, with a total value of SAR 20.48 million.