Compass Group PLC has announced the purchase of 431,599 of its ordinary shares of 11 1/20 pence each. The purchased shares will be held in treasury and are expected to be used to meet obligations arising from employee share schemes or other allocations of ordinary shares to employees or directors. The purchases were made in accordance with the authority granted by shareholders at its 2024 Annual General Meeting. The company's broker, J.P. Morgan Securities plc, facilitated the purchases.
The purchases were made at different venues, with 391,327 shares purchased on the London Stock Exchange and 40,272 shares purchased on CBOE Europe. The highest price paid per ordinary share was £22.7000, and the lowest price paid was £22.5000, with a volume-weighted average price paid of £22.5809 on the London Stock Exchange. These purchases are part of the company's market equivalent of $250 million share buyback announced on 21 June 2024, which is the second and final stage of the company's $500 million share buyback announced on 20 November 2023.
Following these purchases, the company holds 83,825,063 ordinary shares in treasury and has 1,701,578,914 ordinary shares in issue. This figure may be used by shareholders as the denominator for the calculations by which they will determine if they are required to notify their interest in, or a change to their interest in, the company under the Financial Conduct Authority's Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules.
The detailed breakdown of individual trades made by J.P. Morgan Securities plc on behalf of the company as part of the share buyback is available for review. This announcement does not constitute, or form part of, an offer or any solicitation of an offer for securities in any jurisdiction.
For further information, investors can contact Agatha Donnelly and Helen Javanshiri at +44 (0) 1932 573 000 or visit the company's website.