Charles River Laboratories International Inc., a Massachusetts company with biotech operations in eastern Connecticut, has initiated an accelerated stock repurchase program to buy back $150 million in common stock, as part of a larger $750 million stock buyback plan, Mass High Tech reports.
The program will return 3.7 million shares of common stock to the company.
Charles River’s three-year-old Franklin, Conn., facility employs about 85 people involved in harvesting hygienic chicken eggs used in the production of human vaccines.
Charles River based in Wilmington, Mass., is paying for the buyback with a new $150 million term loan, an add-on to the company’s current credit agreement that includes an earlier $400 million U.S. term loan and $350 million U.S. revolving credit facility.
Earlier this month, the company closed a separate accelerated stock repurchase program worth $300 million in the purchase of about 8.9 million shares of common stock.
Charles River said in December that it was looking to offload under-performing assets, including two facilities — a U.S. Phase 1 research clinic and a pre-clinical research facility in China.
The company, which provides pharmaceutical and biotech services, announced a restructuring program last November – including layoffs – that is intended to reduce costs by approximately $40 million in 2011.
