Ahold starts 500 million-euro share-buyback program

AMSTERDAM — Ahold is buying back about $650 million worth of shares, with plans to finalize the deal within 12 months, the Dutch retail company said Monday.

Ahold — which operates the Stop & Shop, Giant-Carlisle and Giant-Landover supermarket banners and the Peapod online grocery service in the United States through its Ahold USA subsidiary — said the purpose of the share-buyback program was to return value to shareholders.

The company said the program would be executed within the limitations of existing authority granted at the its 2012 annual shareholder meeting and possibly authority proposed to shareholders at its annual meeting this year, which will take place in April.