Varian Medical Systems Inc. (NYSE:VAR) late last week inked a deal with Bank of America to buy back about $280 million worth of its common stock, reducing the amount of outstanding shares by almost 3 percent.
Under the re-purchasing plan announced today, Varian used a combination of available cash and borrowings under its revolving credit facility with BofA for the Feb. 23 buyback, acquiring about 3.5 million shares for $67.09 apiece. It still plans to buy an additional 700,000 shares back from the bank, subject to adjustments based on the volume weighted average share price of Varian stock over the next two to six months.
According to regulatory records, Bank of America was a net buyer of Varian stock during 2010, a period coinciding with the company’s share price rising 47.9 percent, climbing from $46.85 to $69.28 a share.
Varian shares were up about 1 percent to $69.43 today. Since initiating the share-repurchase program nearly nine years ago, Varian has spent about $2.0 billion to repurchase 48 million shares at an average price of $42.54 per share. The company has authorized the buyback of up to 20 million shares by the end of its fiscal 2012.
