JWCA advises monsanto on its $6 Billion accelerated share repurchase, the third largest asr in history

july 2014 | read press release

Transaction Background

J. Wood Capital Advisors acted as senior advisor to Perella Weinberg in its role as financial advisor to Monsanto.  JWCA led the execution of an accelerated share repurchase. 

• Educated Monsanto on the use of ASRs in an unbiased and open manner

• Assisted the Monsanto team with documentation, accounting and tax review

• Created a process to achieve the best terms for Monsanto:

- Led an auction process to drive the best ASR terms for Monsanto

- Designed as a two-bank ASR to mitigate credit risk

- Created the documents with the company upfront to ensure company-friendly provisions

• Provided advice, support and analysis during the execution

Results

• The auction process substantially increased the share repurchase discount, saving the company over $25mm

• Monsanto's shares outstanding were immediately reduced by ~40mm shares, roughly ~7.5% of their shares outstanding

• Mitigated counterparty risk by executing the transaction with two banks