(Bloomberg) -- BHP Billiton (LON:BLT) Ltd. will return $10.4 billion to shareholders through a buyback and special dividend after completing the sale of its onshore U.S. shale assets.
The off-market buyback will start this month and will return $5.2 billion to holders, while the balance then will be paid out as a special dividend, the company said Thursday in a statement. This latest capital management steps will bring the total cash returned to shareholders to $21 billion over the past two years, the company said.
“We made a commitment that all the net proceeds from the disposal of our onshore U.S. assets would be returned to shareholders and we are honoring that commitment now that the sale transactions have been completed,” Chief Executive Officer Andrew Mackenzie said
BHP made a gross $10.5 billion on the sale to BP plc (LON:BP) of its interests in the Eagle Ford, Haynesville and Permian onshore U.S. oil and gas assets, announced back in July.
Earlier in the year, BHP came under pressure from activist fund Elliott Management Corp. to divest assets and restructure the organization, including potentially dropping its dual-listing in London and Sydney, to unlock $22 billion in value to shareholders.