Abstract
When a firm repurchases its own common stock, it buys back a proportion of its own equity from existing shareholders. For open market transactions the stock is acquired at market value and in an efficient market the transfer should not change shareholders' wealth. However, empirically, such corporate activity in American markets is generally associated with stock price increases and, consequently, increases in remaining shareholder wealth. The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of open market share repurchases on the share price of New Zealand firms. If any abnormal returns are identified then the hypotheses suggested by American studies will be investigated to see which, if any, hold for the New Zealand case.