Papa John’s International Inc. (NASDAQ: PZZA – News) approved an increase to $775 million in the amount of the company’s common stock that may be repurchased by the company from time to time through December 31, 2009. This represents a $50 million increase in the previously authorized amount and includes the authorization to purchase shares in both the open market and private transactions, and pursuant to a 10b5-1 trading plan.
The company announced that to date it has repurchased $705.1 million of its stock since the inception of the repurchase program in 1999. As of June 29, 2008, the company had approximately 28.7 million shares of common stock outstanding on a fully diluted basis (about 28.1 million actual shares outstanding).
As of June 29, 2008, Papa John’s had 3,270 restaurants (670 company-owned and 2,600 franchised) operating in all 50 states and 28 countries.
