Note 10: Repurchases of Common Stock

Board Authorization

On January 30, 2014, our Board of Directors approved an additional stock repurchase program of up to $500.0 million of our common stock plus the cash proceeds received from the exercise of stock options by our officers, directors, and employees. The Board also authorized a tender offer for up to $350.0 million with the option to increase the tender by up to 2% of outstanding shares.

Repurchases

In the nine months ended September 30, 2014, we repurchased a total of 7,925,227 shares of our common stock, via open market repurchases and a tender offer, with an average price per share of $68.31 for $541.4 million, excluding fees and expenses associated with the tender offer. Of these shares, 2,633,526 were repurchased from the open market with an average price of $64.77 per share for $170.6 million. In addition, as part of a tender offer which expired on March 7, 2014, we accepted for payment an aggregate of 5,291,701 shares of our common stock at a final purchase price of $70.07 per share, for an aggregate cost of $370.8 million, excluding fees and expenses which totaled $3.8 million. All shares repurchased were recorded as treasury shares and made in accordance with current share repurchase authorizations of the Board. Fees associated with the tender offer were recorded as part of the cost of treasury stock in our Consolidated Balance Sheets.

The following table presents a summary of our authorized stock repurchase balance:



Dollars in thousands	Board Authorization
Authorized repurchase - as of January 1, 2014 ⁽¹⁾	$	201,291
Additional board authorization ⁽¹⁾	500,000
Proceeds from the exercise of stock options	2,943
Repurchase of common stock from open market	(170,582		)
Repurchase from tender offer ⁽²⁾	(370,789		)
Authorized repurchase - as of September 30, 2014 ⁽¹⁾	$	162,863


(1)	In addition to these amounts, the repurchase program approved by our Board of Directors allows for the use of cash proceeds received from the exercise of stock options by our officers, directors, and employees.


(2)	Excludes expenses of $3.8 million associated with the tender offer.