THE CANADIAN PRESS

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WATERLOO, Ont. - Research In Motion Ltd. (TSX:RIM) says it has been authorized to spend up to US$1.2 billion to buy back its common shares from the open market and cancel them.

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THE CANADIAN PRESS/Dave Chidley/ file

Jim Balsillie the Co-Chief Executive Officer for Research In Motion.

The share buyback program, which the Waterloo, Ont.-based company would conduct through the Nasdaq stock market, allows the BlackBerry maker to cancel up to 21 million of its common shares, or 3.6 per cent of the outstanding number.

RIM will pay the prevailing market price of the shares at the time of purchase.

If the maximum number of shares is acquired at the maximum price allowed, RIM would pay about US$57.14 each.

That's slightly below Wednesday's closing price of US$57.61 at Nasdaq, where the greatest volume of RIM's shares are traded, and C$61.39 at the Toronto Stock Exchange.

The Waterloo, Ont.-based maker of the BlackBerry products hasn't bought any of its own shares in the past year but says such a program would leave RIM with sufficient cash for its business growth plans.