Note 11. Common Stock

12 Months Ended

May 31, 2011

Schedule of Stock by Class [Table Text Block]

11. COMMON STOCK

Reserved shares

At May 31, 2011, 2,814,334 shares of common stock were reserved for future issuance upon the vesting of restricted stock or the exercise of stock options that have previously been issued and are still outstanding under the Immucor, Inc. 2005 Long-Term Incentive Plan and previous plans.

Stock repurchased

During fiscal 2011, 2010 and 2009, the Company either withheld from certain option exercises or reacquired from certain restricted shareholders an aggregate of 26,618, 18,921 and 35,088 shares valued at $0.5 million, $0.3 million and $1.0 million, respectively, in compliance with the statutory tax withholding requirements.  The Company retired these shares and disclosed their value as ‘Stock repurchases and retirements’ in the consolidated statement of shareholders’ equity and comprehensive income and as ‘Repurchase of common stock’ under financing activities in the consolidated statements of cash flows.

During fiscal 2009, the Company also withheld 18,600 shares valued at $0.5 million from certain option exercises where the option exercise price was paid by having shares withheld. No shares were withheld for this purpose in fiscal 2011 or 2010.  These shares were also retired and their values were disclosed as ‘Stock repurchases and retirements’ in the consolidated statement of shareholders’ equity and comprehensive income and as ‘Non-cash investing and financing activities’ in the consolidated statements of cash flows. 

The shares acquired were returned to the status of authorized, but unissued shares.

Stock repurchase program

The Company currently has a stock repurchase program approved by the Board of Directors. In August 2009, the Board of Directors authorized the Company to repurchase an additional 2,000,000 shares of the Company’s common stock under this repurchase program, bringing the total authorized shares to 11,375,000.

During the year ended May 31, 2011, the Company did not repurchase any shares of common stock under the repurchase program.  During the year ended May 31, 2010 and 2009, the Company spent $11.6 million and $6.7 million to repurchase 650,003 and 295,409 shares of its common stock at an average per share price of $17.78 and $22.52, respectively.  Since 1998, the Company has repurchased 9,178,356 shares of its common stock having an aggregate value of approximately $69.2 million. An aggregate of 2,196,644 shares were available for repurchase under the program as of May 31, 2011.