Imperial Brands PLC (LSE:IMB) has announced the appointment of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) to source some £550 million worth of shares in the first tranche of its buyback scheme.
Announced on Thursday, Imperial Brands has set sights on repurchasing £1.1 billion worth of its issued share capital.
The first phase of this programme will begin on Friday, 6 October and finish no later than 28 March, Imperial Brands said in a statement.
Broker Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) will carry out the buyback on Imperial Brands’ behalf, purchasing a maximum of 94,200,000 shares in open-market transactions.
“Under this arrangement, Morgan Stanley will act as riskless principal and will make decisions under the programme independently from the company,” today's statement read.
These decisions will “be made from time to time depending on market conditions, share price, trading volume and other factors", Imperial Brands added.
The FTSE 100-listed tobacco firm had pointed to growing revenue from higher pricing despite falling volumes over the year as it announced the buyback on Thursday.
As a result, it reiterated full-year guidance, with the new buyback - accounting for roughly 8% of its issued capital - marking an increase on last year’s repurchases.