Definition

A buyback for small businesses is when the company repurchases its shares from shareholders, often to return capital to investors or enhance shareholder value.

Description

Buyback of shares meaning is also known as a stock buyback or share repurchase. In simple terms, share buyback is a financial strategy companies adopt to repurchase their outstanding shares from the market or existing shareholders. As unlikely as it may sound, this share buyback holds its own importance. 

The list below highlights the most common reasons for the same.

• Increases Earnings Per Share (EPS)

A company's outstanding shares diminish when it buys back its shares. Because of this, the company's earnings are distributed over a smaller number of shares, increasing the EPS.

• Returns Capital to Shareholders

Companies can return capital to shareholders through share buybacks without having to distribute dividends. For businesses with extra cash on hand and no better uses for it, this can be a viable alternative.

• Signals the Company’s Stock is Undervalued

A corporation conveys to investors that its stock is cheap when it engages in share repurchases at a premium to the going rate. As investors come to believe in the company's vision, this may result in a rise in share price.

Reduces the Number of outstanding shares

Buys back of shares might increase a company's resistance to merger. It would cost more for another business to buy the target company if there were fewer shares outstanding.

To Improve Financial Ratios

Share buybacks can increase a number of financial variables, including the debt-to-equity ratio and return on equity (ROE). This may improve the company's perceived value to creditors and investors.

Advantages of buyback of shares?

These are the reasons for which the buy back of a share by a company becomes beneficial:

• Boosts Share Price: Lowering the number of outstanding shares can raise the price of stocks by increasing earnings per share.
• Potential Tax Benefit: Unlike dividends, stock buybacks are more tax-effective to give shareholders their money back.
• Prevents Dilution: Balance out the possible diluting effect of fresh share issue on current shareholders' ownership.
• Offers Exit Option: The buyback tender gives shareholders who want to sell their shares to the company a method to do so at a fair market price. It is among the many benefits of share buybacks.

What are the different types of share buybacks?

Let’s have a look at the different types of stock/shares buybacks that one should know: 

• Tender Offer: A company asks shareholders to sell a certain number of shares at a certain price in a tender offer. Shareholders can keep their shares or accept the current repurchase offers and sell them.
• Open Market Repurchase: A business might gradually purchase its shares from the open market through an open market buyback. The present condition of the market may have an impact on share prices.
• Dutch Auction: By using a Dutch auction, a business establishes a price range and invites shareholders to bid according to the amount they are prepared to sell their shares for. The business then pays the best price that satisfies market demand to acquire the shares.
• Direct Negotiation: The least frequent kind of buyback is direct bargaining, in which a business bargains directly with individual shareholders to buy back their shares.

What are the steps to execute buy-back of shares?

The corporation must finish the buyback within a year of the approval date. Here is a detailed explanation of how to comprehend the terms of the share buyback: 

Step 1: Board Acceptance: 

The company's board of directors must approve the buyback proposal. The following information must be in the plan:

• The quantity of shares that will be repurchased.
• The share price
• The buyback procedure
• The money source for the buyback

Step 2: Shareholder Approval: At a general meeting, shareholders must approve the buyback proposal.

Step 3: Announcement of the Buyback: The public and the stock market must know the company's intention to repurchase shares.

Step 4: Share Repurchase: The business may repurchase shares through a tender offer or on the open market.

Step 5:Shareholder Payment: The business must pay the shareholders for repurchased shares.

Step 6: Buyback completion: After the business has acquired all of the shares it has authorised, the buyback of shares is finished.

Recent trends in buy back of shares in India.

Some of the recent trends in buyback of shares in India include:

Growth in buybacks: Over the previous few years, India has seen a steady rise in repurchase offers. 2023, there were more than 100 buyback offers, a notable increase from a year earlier. In 2024, this pattern is expected to continue.

Transition to tender offers: Compared to open market buybacks, there has been a transition towards tender offers. This could result from several things, including businesses wishing to avoid influencing the market price of their shares or focusing on sure owners.

More significant repurchase amounts: Businesses declare buyback amounts greater than Rs. 1,000 crore. This suggests that businesses are more cash-rich and optimistic about their future.

Concentrate on specific industries: repurchase announcements have been most prevalent in the IT, pharmaceutical, and automotive sectors. This is probably because these industries have healthy cash reserves and have performed well financially.

Example

Tata Consultancy Services is one recent example of an Indian company that has repurchased shares (TCS). TCS launched a ₹18,000 crore ($2.4 billion) share repurchase scheme in December 2021, its third buyback in the last four years. 

The company's plan to increase shareholder value and return excess cash to shareholders included the buyback. According to TCS, the repurchasing of up to 4 crore shares at a price of ₹4,500 per share would constitute the buyback, which would account for around 1.1% of the company's total outstanding shares.

FAQ

What is a buyback of shares?

A buyback of shares, sometimes referred to as a share repurchase, is the process by which a business buys back its outstanding shares from investors, usually to increase shareholder value or return capital to investors.

What is a buyback offer?

A buyback offer is an official request made by a business to its investors to return a portion of their shares to the company at a specific price and within an agreed-upon period. With this offer, shareholders can participate in the share repurchase program.

How does buyback benefit a business?

A business may benefit from buybacks in several ways, such as reducing the number of outstanding shares on the market, increasing earnings per share (EPS), showing confidence in the company's financial stability, and giving shareholders their surplus cash back.

What is the meaning of the buyback of equity shares?

Repurchasing shares first issued and offered to investors as equity ownership is known as the buyback of equity shares. In this procedure, the business buys back a certain amount of its ownership from current shareholders, frequently through an official buyback program.

" rows="10">