Tidewater Declares Quarterly Dividend; Extends Authorization to Repurchase Shares to up to $200M

Tidewater Inc. TDW announced today that its Board of Directors has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.25 per share on Tidewater's approximately 51.9 million shares of common stock outstanding. The dividend is payable June 15, 2011, to shareholders of record on June 3, 2011. Tidewater also announced today that its Board of Directors has extended the program for the Company to spend up to $200 million to repurchase shares of its common stock in open-market or privately-negotiated transactions. The Company would use its available cash and, when considered advantageous, borrowings under its revolving credit facility or other borrowings, to fund any share repurchases. The repurchase program was scheduled to expire on June 30, 2011, but has now been extended to expire on the earlier of the date that all authorized funds have been expended or June 30, 2012, unless extended by the Board of Directors.