The board of directors for Tyson Foods announced Thursday (July 31) plans to pay a cash dividend of 7.5 cents per share to its Class A investors and 6.75 cents per share to Class B shareholders — the estate of Don Tyson and other family members.
The cash dividend is payable on Dec. 15 to shareholders of record as of Dec. 1. Shares of Tyson Foods closed Thursday at $37.21, down 2.59% amid a broad market sell off with the Nasdaq Index losing 2% on the day.
Wednesday (July 30) Tyson announced the pricing of its concurrent public equity offerings at $37.80 per share on 23.8 million Class A shares and 30 million of its 4.75% tangible equity units with a stated face value of $50 per unit. Each offering is expected to close on Aug. 5, subject to customary closing conditions.
Tyson expects the net proceeds from the Class A common stock offering to be approximately $873 million. Proceeds could reach $1.004 billion if the underwriters for the Class A common stock offering exercise their over-allotment option in full. The net proceed from the tangible equity units are expected to total $1.454 billion. These estimates are net underwriting discounts, commissions and estimated expenses, the company notes.
Tyson said it will use the proceeds with additional debt financing and cash on hand to finance the $8.55 billion acquisition of Hillshire Brands and pay any related fee and expenses to the merger.
If for any reason the Hillshire Brands deal is not consummated, then the company said it intends to use the net proceeds from these offerings for general corporate purposes.