Immucor Inc., a maker of blood bank reagent systems andrelated products, said Wednesday that it has authorized thepurchase of up to 500,000 shares of its common stock on theopen market.

At Wednesday's closing price of $8.75, up 25 cents, thepurchase would cost up to $4.4 million. The Norcross, Ga.,company (NASDAQ:BLUD) has 7.8 million shares outstandingand $17.5 million in cash.

"Market conditions have provided us with an opportunity toenhance shareholder value by purchasing stock at attractiveprices," said Edward Gallup, president.

Immucor repurchased 1.7 million shares, calculated to accountfor stock splits, in the last bear market. Those purchasesoccurred between October 1987 and August 1990, according toRichard Still, senior vice president of finance.

For the nine months through Feb. 29, Immucor had a netincome of $2.4 million, or 27 cents per share, on $20 million insales. -- KB

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