Arctic Cat buys back stake from Suzuki Motor

Reuters: Arctic Cat Inc bought back about a 33 percent stake that Suzuki Motor Corp held in the snowmobile maker for $79.3 million, sending its shares up 26 percent on Wednesday.

The buyback of class B shares reduces the company’s outstanding shares from 18.4 million to 12.3 million, Arctic Cat said in a statement.

Suzuki has been a major shareholder in Arctic Cat since 1988 and supplies engines for the company’s snowmobiles. Suzuki’s representative has also resigned from Arctic Cat’s board of directors, the company said. Shares of the Minneapolis-based company were up 21 percent at $22.92 on Wednesday morning on Nasdaq. They touched a near five-year high of $24.00 earlier in the session.