METRO INC. announces plan to buy back shares through private agreements

MONTREAL, Jan. 9, 2017 /CNW Telbec/ - Metro inc. ("Metro") (TSX: MRU) announced today that it intends to purchase for cancellation, on or before September 11, 2017, up to 2,610,000 of its Common Shares pursuant to private agreements between Metro and several arm's-length third-party sellers. These purchases will be made pursuant to issuer bid exemption orders issued by the Ontario Securities Commission. The price that Metro will pay for any Common Shares purchased by it under such agreements will be negotiated by Metro and the relevant seller and will be at a discount to the prevailing market price of Metro's Common Shares on the Toronto Stock Exchange ("TSX") at the time of the purchase. Information regarding each purchase, including the number of Common Shares purchased and aggregate price paid, will be available on the System for Electronic Document Analysis and Retrieval (SEDAR) at www.sedar.com following the completion of any such purchase.

These purchases will form part of Metro's 12,000,000 share repurchase program announced on September 8, 2016 and effective on September 12, 2016, which allows for purchases outside the facilities of the TSX pursuant to exemption orders issued by a securities regulatory authority, including by way of private agreements at a discount to the prevailing market price. The maximum number of Common Shares which may be purchased by way of all such private agreements cannot exceed 4,000,000, being one-third of the total number of Common Shares which may be purchased under Metro's 12,000,000 share repurchase program announced on September 8, 2016.

Metro Inc.

With annual sales of over $12 billion and over 65,000 employees, METRO INC. is a leader in the food and pharmaceutical distribution in Quebec and Ontario, where it operates a network of more than 600 food stores under several banners including Metro, Metro Plus, Super C and Food Basics, as well as over 250 drugstores under the Brunet, Metro Pharmacy and Drug Basics banners.

Forward‑Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements which reflect management's expectations related to expected future events and financial results and operating results. This forward-looking information typically contains the words "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "intend", "expect", "may", "will", "should", "potential", "plan", "project" or other similar terms. These forward-looking statements are not facts, but only reflections of management's estimates and expectations. Although Metro believes that these statements are based on information and assumptions which are current, reasonable and complete, these statements are necessarily subject to a number of factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from management's expectations as set forth in such forward-looking statements for a variety of reasons, including market and general economic conditions and the risks and uncertainties discussed in the "Risk Management" section of the 2016 Annual Report filed with Canadian securities regulatory authorities.

The forward-looking statements included in this press release are made only as of the date hereof and Metro does not undertake to publicly update these forward-looking statements to reflect new information, future events or otherwise. In light of these risks, uncertainties and assumptions, the forward-looking events contained in these forward-looking statements may or may not occur. Metro cannot assure that projected results or events will be achieved or occur.

SOURCE METRO INC.

François Thibault, Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer, Tel.: [phone]; Roberto Sbrugnera, Vice President, Treasury, Risk and Investor, Relations, Tel.: [phone]