Friday, 16 December 2011 14:00

Domtar announces an increase to its share buyback program to one billion dollars

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Domtar Corporation has announced that its Board of Directors authorized an increase to its share buyback program of $400 million. The original program announced on May 5, 2010 now has an aggregate authorization of $1 billion. The Company has previously repurchased approximately 6.6 million shares of common stock for a total cash consideration of $536 million pursuant to this program. Domtarhas returned in excess of $600 million of capital to shareholders through a combination of share repurchases and dividends since May 2010.

"With this additional authorization from the Board, we have the flexibility to continue to implement our share repurchase program as a key element of our disciplined capital allocation strategy. Our commitment remains to return a majority of future free cash flow to shareholders," said John D. Williams, President and Chief Executive Officer. "Since the inception of the program in May 2010, we have reduced Domtar's outstanding share count by 15 percent and we believe such repurchases continue to be an excellent means to return capital to our shareholders."

Under the share buyback program, the Company is authorized to repurchase from time to time shares of its outstanding common stock on the open market or in privately negotiated transactions in the United States. The timing and amount of stock repurchases will depend on a variety of factors, including the market conditions as well as corporate and regulatory considerations. The share repurchase program may be suspended, modified or discontinued at any time and the Company has no obligation to repurchase any amount of its common stock under the program. The Company intends to make all repurchases in compliance with applicable regulatory guidelines and to administer the plan in accordance with applicable laws, including Rule 10b-18 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended.

The Company had a total combined number of common stock and exchangeable shares issued and outstanding of 36,805,300 shares at November 30, 2011.

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