CALGARY, Alberta, May 08, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — PrairieSky Royalty Ltd. (“PrairieSky” or the “Company“) (TSX: PSK) is pleased to announce that the Toronto Stock Exchange (the “TSX“) has accepted the notice of PrairieSky’s intention to commence a normal course issuer bid (the “NCIB“). PrairieSky previously purchased an aggregate of 1,750,000 common shares at a weighted average price per share of $22.12 under a normal course issuer bid that ran between May 4, 2018 and May 3, 2019.
On April 22, 2019, PrairieSky announced its intention to seek TSX approval to renew its NCIB for an additional one-year period. The NCIB allows the Company to purchase up to 2,700,000 common shares (representing approximately 1.2% of the common shares outstanding of 233,712,691 as of April 30, 2019 and 1.4% of the public float of 198,747,870 common shares as of April 30, 2019) over a period of twelve months commencing on May 13, 2019. The NCIB will expire no later than May 12, 2020.
Under the NCIB, common shares may be repurchased in open market transactions on the TSX, and/or other Canadian exchanges. In accordance with the rules of the TSX governing normal course issuer bids, the total number of common shares the Company is permitted to purchase is subject to a daily purchase limit of 132,553 common shares, representing 25% of the average daily trading volume of common shares on the TSX calculated for the six-month period ended April 30, 2019, being approximately 530,215 common shares. However, the Company may make one block purchase per calendar week which exceeds the daily repurchase restriction. Any common shares that are purchased under the NCIB will be cancelled upon their purchase by PrairieSky.
PrairieSky has entered into an automatic purchase plan with its broker, BMO Nesbitt Burns Inc., in order to facilitate purchases of its common shares. The automatic purchase plan allows for purchases by the Company of its common share at any time, including, without limitation, when the Company would ordinarily not be permitted to make purchases due to regulatory restriction or self-imposed blackout periods. Purchases will be made by PrairieSky’s broker based upon the parameters prescribed by the TSX and the terms of the parties’ written agreement.
PrairieSky currently intends to only use up to a maximum of $50.0 million to effect NCIB purchases over the next 12 months. However, the Company’s board of directors may consider, from time to time, applying to the TSX to increase the amount of NCIB purchases. Decisions regarding increases to the NCIB will be based on market conditions, share price, best use of available cash, and other factors including other options to expand our portfolio of royalty assets.