Sears to buy back up to $500 million shares

Hoffman Estates, Ill. Sears Holdings Corp. said Thursday that its board approved the repurchase of up to $500 million shares of its common stock.

The new buyback is in addition to $82 million of shares available under an existing repurchase program.

Sears, led by financier Edward Lampert, has repurchased 7.1 million of its shares for about $423 million for the fiscal year to date. The company had approximately 114.7 million outstanding shares as of Wednesday.