LaBranche & Co Inc, the New York Stock Exchange market maker, said it plans to buy back up to 15 million common shares at $4.60 a share through a tender offer.

The number of shares proposed to be purchased in the tender offer, which will end on March 1, represents about 29 percent of the company's current outstanding shares, it said in a statement.

Chief Executive George LaBranche plans to tender half a million of the 3.7 million shares he owns, LaBranche said.

Shares of the company, which also trades derivatives and offers brokerage services, closed at $4.18 Thursday on the New York Stock Exchange.

(Reporting by Brenton Cordeiro in Bangalore; Editing by Anil D'Silva)