JWCA advises monsanto on its $3 Billion accelerated share repurchase

Transaction Background

J. Wood Capital Advisors acted as financial advisor to Monsanto, and led the execution of the Company's accelerated share repurchase.

Evaluated various share repurchase strategies with Monsanto's team upfront (including ASRs) in an unbiased and manner
Assisted the Monsanto team with design, documentation, and accounting 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

Results

The auction process resulted in savings for the company (in the form of a higher discount to the share repurchase)
Monsanto's shares outstanding were immediately reduced by ~28.4mm shares, over 6% of their shares outstanding
Mitigated counterparty risk by executing with two banks