Catena Media Board to Execute on Share Buyback Mandate

Catena Media, an online lead generation company focusing on the iGaming market, announced today its Board of Directors resolved to exercise the company’s mandate to buy back the company’s ordinary shares.

Execute on Authorization

The announcement follows the authorization Catena Media’s Board of Directors was granted at an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) of its shareholders, which took place on July 14, 2021, and allowed the Board to buy back up to 7,039,215 of the company’s own ordinary shares.

Catena Media’s ordinary stock trades on Nasdaq Stockholm since its listing in September 2017, and the repurchases will take place in accordance with Nasdaq Stockholm’s Rulebook for Issuers and within the set parameters of the EGM authorization.

The Board announced it would execute on the authorization as it “sees share buybacks as a way to enhance the company’s flexibility in distributing capital to shareholders and to promote more efficient capital usage.” The authorization also allows the Board to approve the cancellation of repurchased shares at a later date.

Valid until the 2022 annual general meeting (AGM), the mandate given to the Board allows for several purchases to take place for a maximum period of 18 months following the EGM date, while the total number of shares purchased cannot exceed 10% of Catena Media’s outstanding capital, which, as of today, is 73,192,929 ordinary shares.

Transactions may occur on any date at a price within the price interval between the highest buying price and the lowest selling price on Nasdaq Stockholm recorded on that date. The price of the repurchased stock should be locked in the interval between the lowest selling price and the highest buying price at the time of the repurchase.

Active in North America

Currently trading at SEK48.50 ($5.62), the share price of Catena Media is way below its all-time maximum of SEK145 ($16.80) registered in the second half of 2018 as Sweden was preparing to launch regulated online gambling from the beginning of 2019.

The global lead generator of the iGaming industry, which first launched in 2014, announced last week it strengthened its North American operations by acquiring online sports betting and casino affiliation assets from i15 Media in a cash plus stock deal valued at $45 million.

The major acquisition will expand Catena Media’s North American portfolio with more than 100 new websites dedicated to sports betting, casino gaming and affiliates, among which are websites, like Michigansharp.com and NYSportsDay.com, that focus on newly regulated markets. It will also include others, such as Bonus.com and Gamblingonline.com, operating in already established gaming markets, and will further contribute to the company’s growing footprint in the region.