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SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2020
Stockholders' Equity Note [Abstract]  
SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY Evergy's authorized capital stock consists of 600 million shares of common stock, without par value, and 12 million shares of Preference Stock, without par value.
Evergy Registration Statements
In November 2018, Evergy filed an automatic shelf registration statement providing for the sale of unlimited amounts of securities with the SEC, which expires in November 2021.
Evergy has registered shares of its common stock with the SEC for its Dividend Reinvestment and Direct Stock Purchase Plan. Shares issued under the plan may be either newly issued shares or shares purchased on the open market.
Evergy has registered shares of its common stock with the SEC for the Evergy, Inc. 401(k) Savings Plan. Shares issued under the plans may be either newly issued shares or shares purchased on the open market.
Securities Purchase Agreement
On February 25, 2021, Evergy entered into a securities purchase agreement, by and between Evergy and an affiliate of Bluescape Energy Partners, LLC (Bluescape). Bluescape has agreed to purchase 2,269,447 shares of Evergy’s common stock for approximately $113.2 million and will receive a warrant to purchase up to 3,950,000 additional shares of Evergy’s common stock, in each case subject to satisfaction of customary closing conditions, including the expiration of the waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976. The warrant will have a term of three years and an exercise price equal to $64.70.
Common Stock Repurchase Program
In July 2018, the Evergy Board authorized the repurchase of up to 60 million shares of Evergy's common stock with no expiration date. Following its authorization, Evergy utilized various methods to effectuate the share repurchase program, including the repurchase of shares through accelerated share repurchase (ASR) agreements and open market transactions. In total, Evergy repurchased $2,671.0 million, or 45.2 million shares, of common stock under the repurchase program. Evergy retires repurchased common stock shares in the period the shares are repurchased.
The following table summarizes the ASRs completed as part of Evergy's common stock repurchase program.
Date ASR EnteredFinal Settlement DateAmountShares Delivered
(millions)
August 2018October/November 2018$450.0 7.9 
November 2018February 2019475.0 8.3 
March 2019June 2019450.0 7.8 
June 2019September 2019500.0 8.1 
September 2019November/December 2019500.0 7.8 
Under the ASR agreements entered into with various financial institutions, Evergy was delivered a number of shares of its common stock based on the amount of the ASR agreement and the average daily volume-weighted average price of its common stock during the term of the ASR agreement, less a negotiated discount. Evergy reflects ASRs as a repurchase of common stock in the period the shares are delivered for purposes of calculating earnings per share and as forward contracts indexed to its own common stock. Evergy's ASRs met all of the applicable criteria for equity classification and therefore were not accounted for as derivative instruments.
Dividend Restrictions
Evergy depends on its subsidiaries to pay dividends on its common stock. The Evergy Companies have certain restrictions stemming from statutory requirements, corporate organizational documents, covenants and other conditions that could affect dividend levels or the ability to pay dividends.
The KCC order authorizing the merger transaction requires Evergy to maintain consolidated common equity of at least 35% of total consolidated capitalization.
Under the Federal Power Act, Evergy Kansas Central, Evergy Metro and Evergy Missouri West generally can pay dividends only out of retained earnings. Certain conditions in the MPSC and KCC orders authorizing the merger
transaction also require Evergy Kansas Central and Evergy Metro to maintain consolidated common equity of at least 40% of total capitalization. Other conditions in the MPSC and KCC merger orders require Evergy Kansas Central, Evergy Metro and Evergy Missouri West to maintain credit ratings of at least investment grade. If Evergy Kansas Central's, Evergy Metro's or Evergy Missouri West's credit ratings are downgraded below the investment grade level as a result of their affiliation with Evergy or any of Evergy's affiliates, the impacted utility shall not pay a dividend to Evergy without KCC or MPSC approval or until the impacted utility's investment grade credit rating has been restored.
The master credit facility of Evergy, Evergy Kansas Central, Evergy Metro and Evergy Missouri West and the note purchase agreements for certain Evergy Missouri West senior notes contain covenants requiring the respective company to maintain a consolidated indebtedness to consolidated total capitalization ratio of not more than 0.65 to 1.00 at all times.
As of December 31, 2020, all of Evergy's and Evergy Kansas Central's retained earnings and net income were free of restrictions and Evergy Metro had a retained earnings restriction of $385.6 million. As of December 31, 2020, Evergy's subsidiaries had restricted net assets of approximately $5.7 billion. These restrictions are not expected to affect the Evergy Companies' ability to pay dividends at the current level for the foreseeable future.