Varian to repurchase eight million common stock shares

Varian Medical Systems has been granted authorization from its board of directors to repurchase an additional eight million shares of its common stock beginning now and extending through Sept. 30, 2011.

The stock repurchases will be made in the open market, in privately negotiated transactions or in Rule 10b5-1 share repurchase plans. The transactions may be made from time to time or in one or more larger blocks, according to market conditions, and will be conducted in compliance with the Securities and Exchange Commission's Rule 10b-18 and related legal requirements, stated the Palo Alto, Calif.-based company.   

Varian noted that 3.7 million shares of stock had already been repurchased as of the end of the fiscal 2010 third quarter on July 2. As of the initiation of the share purchase program at the end of 2001, the company has spent $1.8 billion to repurchase 43 million shares of common stock at an average price of $41.41 per share.

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