Wendel to Return €1.6 Billion to Shareholders by 2030

By ‌Jakob Van Calster

Dec 12 (Reuters) - French private equity firm Wendel plans ‍to return ‌more than 1.6 billion euros ($1.9 billion) to shareholders by 2030, ⁠starting with share repurchases next ‌year, it said on Friday ahead of its investor day.

The company will launch a programme in 2026 aiming to buy back 9% of its ⁠share capital, which translates to around 300 million euros based on current market prices. ​The rest of the planned returns will be ‌paid out in dividends, it ⁠said.

Shares of Wendel rose 7% in early trading in Paris and could see their biggest one-day rise since early 2022 ​if the gains hold through the session.

The shareholder returns will be driven by expected cash inflows of more than 7 billion euros until 2030, the company said, pointing to steady fees in ​its ‍asset management business and ​potential capital gains from selling companies in its portfolio.

Talking to reporters, CEO Laurent Mignon also teased the possibility of even higher shareholder returns, noting the expected 7-billion-euro inflow would leave 1.2 billion euros unallocated.

This money will allow Wendel to solidify its balance sheet, continue ⁠making investments, for example by acquiring new companies, or introduce further buybacks in later years, ​Mignon said on the press call.

"We believe investors are already eyeing the remaining EUR 1.2bn in cash which could represent an additional annual buyback of EUR 300m in 2027-2030," ‌analysts from Degroof Petercam said in a note to clients.

($1 = 0.8521 euros)

(Reporting by Jakob Van Calster in Gdansk, editing by Milla Nissi-Prussak)