AOL Boosts Stock Buyback Plan By $150M

In a bid to return more cash to shareholders, AOL (NYSE:AOL) unveiled plans on Monday to bolster its share buyback program by $150 million.

By authorizing the additional common stock repurchases, AOL’s board of directors brought the    company’s total buyback ability up to $200 million.

AOL said it has already repurchased 1.4 million shares this year at an average price of $35.65, totaling about $50 million.

Separately, AOL revealed inking a $250 million, five-year secured revolving credit facility with a group of banks led by J.P. Morgan Chase (NYSE:JPM).

The Internet company said it plans to use the borrowing ability for “general corporate purposes.”

“The oversubscribed credit facility underscores the debt market`s receptiveness to AOL and significantly improves our financial flexibility to allocate capital to our strategic priorities, as well as continue our track record of returning capital to our shareholders,” Karen Dykstra, AOL’s chief financial officer, said in a statement.

Shares of New York-based AOL were inactive in Monday’s premarkets after having soared 23% year-to-date, outpacing the S&P 500’s 14.4% advance.