Aegon will repurchase common shares for an amount of EUR 106 million to neutralize the dilutive effect of the 2021 final dividend paid in shares. These shares will be held as treasury shares and will be used to pay future stock dividends in shares.
Shareholders were given the opportunity to choose between receiving the 2021 final dividend of EUR 0.09 per common share in cash or in shares. The stock dividend and the cash dividend are approximately equal in value.
58% of shareholders elected to receive the final dividend in shares. Those who elected stock dividend will receive one Aegon common share for every 47 common shares held. The stock fraction is based on Aegon's average share price as quoted on Euronext Amsterdam, using the high and low of each of the five trading days from June 23 up to and including June 29, 2022. The average share price calculated on this basis amounted to EUR 4.26. The dividend will be payable as of July 6, 2022.
The repurchase of shares will commence on July 7, 2022 and is expected to be completed on or before September 30, 2022. The transaction will amount to EUR 106 million. Aegon has engaged a third party to execute the transactions on its behalf. The common shares will be repurchased at a maximum of the average of the daily volume-weighted average prices during the repurchase period.
This program is in addition to the existing EUR 300 million share buyback that was announced on March 23, 2022, of which the second tranche will commence on July 7, 2022. Weekly updates regarding all the share buyback transactions are available on aegon.com.