Ciena (CIEN) Announces $250M Accelerated Share Buyback
Ciena Corporation (NYSE: CIEN) (the “Company”) today announced that it has entered into an accelerated share repurchase (ASR) agreement with Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC (“Goldman”) to repurchase $250.0 million of the Company’s common stock as part of the Company’s previously announced $1.0 billion share repurchase program. The Company expects to fund the ASR from cash on hand and cash generated from operations.
Under the ASR agreement, the Company will make a payment of $250.0 million to Goldman, and will receive an initial share delivery of approximately 2.7 million shares from Goldman, representing approximately 80% of the expected share repurchases under the ASR agreement, based on the closing price of the common stock of $74.12 on December 13, 2021. The final number of shares of common stock to ultimately be purchased by the Company under the ASR agreement will be based generally on the average of the daily volume-weighted average prices of the common stock during the term of the transaction, less a discount and subject to adjustments pursuant to the terms and conditions of the ASR agreement. Final settlement of the transactions under the ASR agreement is expected to occur during the fiscal quarter ending April 30, 2022.