Latin American and African operator Millicom today said it will return up to US$800 million to shareholders through a special dividend and a share buyback plan. The company said it will pay a special dividend of US$4.60 per share in addition to the proposed annual dividend of US$1.40 per share, and will also initiate a share repurchase plan of up to US$300 million. The share repurchase plan is to be executed through open market purchases on Nasdeq by the end of 2010 within the authorisations obtained at the 2009 Annual General Meeting (AGM). The operator aims to achieve authorisation to complete the share repurchase plan at this year’s AGM next month.

In a statement, Mikael Grahne, President and CEO, noted: “Millicom has a strong balance sheet and is now generating significant and sustainable cash flows. We have also enjoyed the receipts from the majority of our Asian disposals. As a result, we are delighted to be returning US$800 million to shareholders, demonstrating our commitment both to enhancing the returns from holding Millicom shares, and to improving the efficiency of our capital structure. At the same time we are retaining sufficient liquidity to fund our ongoing investment requirements and potential external growth opportunities, with an expected net debt to EBITDA ratio of less than 1 after the payment of the dividends and the completion of the share buyback program.”