Itau to Buy Back up to 88m Shares

Itau’s board has authorized a buyback of up to 88m shares, of which up to 19.5m will be common shares and up to 68.5m preferred, together representing less than 10% of the outstanding float. The bank says the repurchase will be run through November 3, 2009 and be financed with cash. The intermediary for the buyback is Itau Corretora. Itau’s common shares closed down 3.4% at BRL22.75 while preferred shares rose 4.5% to BRL28.40.