U.S. stocks were in positive territory on Monday morning, with the Dow Jones advancing more than 200 points. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 1.02% to 25,799, the S&P 500 index rose 0.95% to 2,786 and the Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 1.29% to 7,424.
Shares of Crocs Inc. (CROX, Financial) gained more than 4% on Monday morning after the company announced an agreement with Blackstone Capital Partners to repurchase and convert the company’s Series A convertible preferred stock. This was part of a $200 million investment in Crocs in January 2014.
The investment had a cash dividend payable at 6% per annum and an allocation of earnings in any quarter in which the net income was positive. The shares were converted into 13.8 million shares of common stock at $14.50 per share.
Under the agreement, the company will buy back 6.9 million common shares for $183.7 million, or $26.64 a share. Blackstone will convert the other half of preferred shares into common shares, and has agreed not to sell or transfer the shares for about nine months.
Gainers
- Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD, Financial)
- Wynn Resorts Ltd. (WYNN, Financial)
- Estee Lauder Companies Inc. (EL, Financial)
- CF Industries Holdings Inc. (CF, Financial)
- Deere & Co. (DE, Financial)
Losers
- HollyFrontier Corp. (HFC, Financial)
- Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ, Financial)
- Alliance Data Systems Corp. (ADS, Financial)
- Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. (COG, Financial)
Global markets
The main European stock markets traded higher. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 rose 1.18%, France's CAC 40 gained 1%, Germany's Dax climbed 1.85% and Spain's IBEX 35 inched up 1.13%.
In Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 jumped 1%, India’s BSE Sensex swelled 0.13%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng advanced 2.55% and China's Shanghai Composite rose 2.57%.
Disclosure: The author holds no positions in any stocks mentioned.