Winnebago Industries Inc., the largest maker of recreational motor homes, said it plans to spend about $64 million to buy 1.45 million shares from the widow of the company’s founder.

Luise V. Hanson died Oct. 19 at the age of 90. Her stock holdings, which represent about 8 percent of the 18.2 million Winnebago shares that had been outstanding, will be purchased for $44.1235 each, the company said in a statement released Oct. 20. The purchase agreement sparked sharp interest from Wall Street, where shares of Winnebago rose 7 percent the day after the announcement.

The price represents a 15 percent discount from Winnebago’s closing price of $51.91 on Oct. 17. Under terms of the agreement, the company said it would buy the shares from Hanson Capital Partners LLC, which is owned and controlled by the Hanson family. It’s the company’s third major stock purchase from the Hanson family, and leaves them with about 3.85 million shares, or about 22.9 percent of the company’s remaining outstanding stock.

John Hanson founded Winnebago in Forest City in 1958. Today, the company sells motor homes under the Winnebago, Itasca, Rialta and Ultimate brand names.

In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Winnebago said it will use cash it already has, plus cash that will become available from maturing fixed-income securities, to pay for the stock in three installments by December. Winnebago had $92.7 million in cash and cash equivalents as of May 31, according to a quarterly report filed July 11 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.