TORONTO, November 19,
2009 – Bank
of Montreal (TSX, NYSE: BMO) today announced that the Toronto Stock
Exchange and the Office of the Superintendent
of Financial Institutions Canada (OSFI) have approved BMO’s
normal course issuer bid to purchase for cancellation up to 15 million
of its common shares commencing December 2, 2009, and ending December
1, 2010, through the facilities of the Toronto Stock Exchange.
The common shares
that may be repurchased represent approximately 2.7 per cent of BMO’s
public float of common shares. BMO will determine the actual number
of common shares that may be purchased and the timing
of any such purchases. The price paid for the share purchases will be
the market price of the shares at the time of acquisition. The Bank will
only initiate purchases under the program after consulting with OSFI.
No common shares
were repurchased under the Bank’s recently expired
normal course issuer bid. There were 551,914,804 Bank of Montreal common
shares issued and outstanding as at November 16, 2009, and the public
float was 551,321,713 common shares. The average daily trading volume
for the 6 months ended October 31, 2009, and the daily maximum number
of shares available for purchase, calculated pursuant to the rules of
the Toronto Stock Exchange for the purposes of the bid, was 2,174,537
and 543,634 shares, respectively.
BMO Financial Group’s Tier 1 capital ratio was 11.71 per cent
as at July 31, 2009. The normal course issuer bid is being renewed
as part of the Bank’s capital management strategy.
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For Media Relations Enquiries:
Ralph Marranca, Toronto, 416-867-3996
Ronald Monet, Montreal, 514-877-1873
For Investor Relations Enquiries:
Steven Bonin, Toronto, 416-867-5452
Andrew Chin, Toronto, 416-867-7019
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