Sara Lee: buys back 500 million USD in shares

Downers Grove / IL. (slc) Sara Lee Corporation announced it has initiated an accelerated share repurchase program under which it will repurchase 500 million USD of common stock. The repurchase is part of its recently announced capital plan under which the company intends to buy back 2,5 to 3,0 billion USD of stock over a three year period, with 1,0 to 1,3 billion USD to be repurchased in calendar year 2010. As a result of the repurchase, the company´s shares outstanding will be reduced from 697 million to approximately 661 million. Sara Lee also announced that it has hedged 1,6 billion EUR of the proceeds anticipated to be generated by the divestiture of its Household + Body Care (H+BC) business at an exchange rate of 1,35 USD per EUR. To date, the company has announced binding agreements to sell its Body Care business to Unilever for 1’275 million EUR and its Air Care business to Proctor + Gamble for 320 million EUR. The company continues to work toward the sale of the remaining parts of the business, Insecticides and Shoe Care. «We recently announced our intention to use the H+BC proceeds and cash on hand to aggressively repurchase shares», said Sara Lee chairman and chief executive officer Brenda C. Barnes. «Today´s announcement reflects our commitment to act swiftly and create value for our shareholders. At the same time, our actions to hedge the euro-dollar rate will protect the value of the proceeds from the sale of H+BC».

Info: «Sara Lee Announces 500 Million USD Accelerated Share Repurchase and Updates Earnings Guidance to Reflect this Action» (press release; PDF; 47 KB).