BMO Financial Group Announces Intention to Repurchase Up to 20 Million of its Common Shares

TORONTO, Feb. 27, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Bank of Montreal (TSX:BMO) (NYSE:BMO) today announced its intention, subject to the approval of the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions Canada (OSFI) and the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX), to purchase, for cancellation, up to 20 million of its common shares under a normal course issuer bid through the facilities of the TSX. Purchases may also be made through alternative Canadian trading systems or by such other means as may be permitted by a securities regulatory authority, including private agreements or share repurchase programs under exemption orders issued by securities regulatory authorities (Exemption Orders). Bank of Montreal (the Bank) intends to file a notice of intention with the TSX in this regard.

The normal course issuer bid, subject to regulatory approvals, will commence on or around May 30, 2018, and will end on or around May 29, 2019. The common shares that may be repurchased represent approximately 3.1 per cent of the 'public float' (as such term is defined in the TSX Company Manual) of common shares as at January 31, 2018. The timing and amount of any purchases under the program is subject to regulatory approvals and to management discretion based on factors such as market conditions.   Except for any purchases made under an Exemption Order, which will generally be at a discount to the prevailing market price, the Bank will pay the market price for the shares at the time of acquisition. 

There were 645,528,245 Bank of Montreal common shares issued and outstanding as at January 31, 2018, and the public float was 645,186,534 common shares.

BMO's current normal course issuer bid for the purchase of up to 22 million common shares commenced on May 1, 2017, and expires on April 30, 2018. Under the current NCIB, as of February 1, 2018, BMO has purchased and cancelled 8 million of its common shares on the open market and pursuant to exemption orders issued by securities regulatory authorities, at a volume weighted average price of approximately $91.71 per share.

Bank of Montreal's common shares are listed on both the Toronto and New York stock exchanges.

Caution Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

Bank of Montreal's public communications often include written or oral forward-looking statements. Statements of this type are included in this document, and may be included in other filings with Canadian securities regulators or the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, or in other communications. All such statements are made pursuant to the "safe harbor" provisions of, and are intended to be forward-looking statements under, the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and any applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking statements may involve, but are not limited to, comments with respect to our objectives and priorities for fiscal 2018 and beyond, our strategies or future actions, our targets, expectations for our financial condition or share price, and the results of or outlook for our operations or for the Canadian, U.S. and international economies.  Forward-looking statements are typically identified by words such as "will", "should", "believe", "expect", "anticipate", "intend", "estimate", "plan", "goal", "target", "may" and "could".