Thomson Reuters surges after $9 billion stock buyback announcement 

Thomson Reuters stock jumped Tuesday following news that the media and information firm would officially begin buying back shares.

The company’s board of directors approved a $9 billion stock buyback from shareholders through what’s known as a “substantial issuer bid,” or SIB, kicking off Tuesday. The price range for the tender offer is $42 to $47, as much as an 11.5 percent premium over the company’s average price in the past 20 days, according to a statement.

The Toronto-based company’s stock, which trades on the NYSE under the symbol TRI, rose 4 percent in early afternoon trading, to around $44.92 per share.

Thomson Reuters will fund the share repurchases from the roughly $17 billion sale of its financial and risk business to private equity funds managed by Blackstone, a deal that was announced in January. The buybacks will apply to roughly 30 percent of the total number of issued and outstanding shares and are expected to wrap up the day after the Blackstone transaction is scheduled to close.

“We are committed to returning a significant portion of the F&R transaction proceeds to our shareholders,” Thomson Reuters Chief Executive Officer Jim Smith said in a statement.

Thomson Reuters said the share repurchase will be a “modified Dutch auction,” a process that allows shareholders to declare the number of shares they sell, and the price at which they sell them.

Tuesday’s announcement builds on existing buyback plans. In June, Thomson Reuters announced plans to buy back up to an additional $1 billion of its shares under a new repurchase program.