Coca-Cola Share Buy Back Near

Coca-Cola Enterprises Inc., which previously announced plans to buy back around a fifth of its outstanding shares, said today that it would repurchase 5.3 million shares from Coca-Cola Co. at around $14.54 each by the end of the month.

Coca-Cola Enterprises, created in 1986 when soft-drink giant Coca-Cola spun off its bottling interests into a separate unit, previously said it was planning to buy up to 25 million shares by the end of 1990.

It said it would buy about 12 million shares from public shareholders and 13 million from Coca-Cola over the course of the program. Coca-Cola Enterprises has around 138 million shares outstanding. The company said it was buying back the 5.3 million shares now to take advantage of tax breaks.