James Halstead to buy back shares

Flooring manufacturer James Halstead plans to buy back 2.5% of its shares in order to return £11m to its investors.

The share buy-back will be performed by means of a tender offer, at a price not lower than 420p.

The actual offer price will be at a 5% premium to the average closing middle market price per Halstead share on the five trading days immediately preceding the date on which the shares are purchased.

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It is proposed that the actual tender offer price will be calculated on 29 November 2011.

James Halstead does not want to pay more than £11m to buy back the shares, so there is a possibility that the whole deal could be called off if the shares rise sharply before the tender offer takes place.

The company has returned significant cash to its shareholders in previous years, and it continues to trade robustly and generate cash in excess of that which is required for the company's operations, the company said in a statement.

Halstead is currently trading in line with the board's expectations, the firm said.

Having risen sharply in early trading, the share price fell 2.33% to 445p by 15:02.

NR