The Buckle has completed its stock buy-back with Daniel J. Hirschfeld, founder and Chairman. On March 24, 2005, the Company entered into an agreement to purchase a total of 3,000,000 shares of the Company's outstanding common stock from Mr. Hirschfeld. The shares, representing approximately 13.8% of the Company's then-current total outstanding common stock, were retired upon delivery to the Company by Mr. Hirschfeld.
The shares were purchased for $28.00 per share, or a total purchase price of $84 million. This price represented a 9.1% discount to the March 24, 2005 closing price, and a 9.7% discount to the five-day average closing price ending March 24, 2005. The Company funded the stock repurchase transaction out of currently available cash and investments. Following the transaction, Mr. Hirschfeld owns approximately 53% of the company's outstanding common stock.
The stock repurchase transaction was negotiated by a Special Committee of The Buckle, Inc.'s Board of Directors. The Special Committee was comprised of all of the Company's independent Directors, and therefore the transaction was approved by the independent Directors on the Company's Board. In connection with this transaction, the Special Committee received a written fairness opinion from Houlihan Lokey Howard & Zukin Financial Advisors, Inc., an international investment bank.
