(Reuters) -Cathay Pacific Airways will repurchase all of its shares owned by Qatar Airways for a total consideration of HK$6.97 billion ($897.33 million), Hong Kong’s flagship carrier said on Wednesday.
Cathay Pacific, which will repurchase 9.57% of its issued shares at HK$10.8374 per share, said it will have “cash sufficient to fund its operations” following completion of the share buyback.
The share repurchase price is at a discount of 3.9% to the company’s close on Wednesday.
When state-owned Qatar Airways purchased a 9.61% stake in Cathay Pacific in November 2017 at HK$13.65, it was its first major stake in an Asian airline, allowing it to boost its global influence and potentially increase traffic through its Doha hub.
Cathay’s share repurchase price is at a discount of 20.6% to Qatar Airways’ purchase price from 2017.
Qatar Airways did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment.
($1 = 7.7675 Hong Kong dollars)
(Reporting by Sherin Sunny in Bengaluru; Editing by Shreya Biswas)
Brought to you by www.srnnews.com
