Shareholders too may prefer a share buy-back to the uncertain pay-off from an investment programme.

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IBM's results on April 29th, combined with news of a huge new share buy-back, sent its shares up by more than 5%.

ECONOMIST: Wall Street

Mordashov's revised offer comes just two days after Arcelor backed down over a planned share buy-back designed to frustrate billionaire steel raja Lakshmi Mittal's approach.

FORBES: Magazine Article

Shareholders might want to see some of this money themselves, but Mr Zondervan dislikes the idea of a share buy-back because of its tax implications in the Netherlands, but also because he would rather spend the money.

ECONOMIST: BolsWessanen

Paul Marsh, of the London Business School, says studies suggest that, in the American market, the announcement of a buy-back boosts the share price by around 2%, compared with around half that in Britain.

ECONOMIST: Buttonwood

In normal circumstances, a buy-back boosts earnings per share, making it easier for the company to meet market estimates and for its executives to profit from their stock options.

ECONOMIST: Buttonwood

But a recent exit of a short-term venture capital partner, and a significant share buy back by Kaspersky ownership means that the initial idea of listing shares has been shelved.

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Companies buy back stock for a variety of reasons from earnings-per-share enhancement to lack of share price growth.

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The entire cash proceeds of the share issuance will be returned to ASML shareholders (not including participating customers) through a synthetic buy-back.

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