PART VISHARE CAPITAL, ITS INCREASE, MAINTENANCE AND REDUCTION
CHAPTER VIIREDEEMABLE SHARES; PURCHASE BY A COMPANY OF ITS OWN SHARES
Redemption or purchase of own shares out of capital (private companies only)
Power of private companies to redeem or purchase own shares out of capital181. F1
(1)
Subject to the following provisions of this Chapter, a private company limited by shares or limited by guarantee and having a share capital may, if so authorised by its articles, make a payment in respect of the redemption or purchase under Article 170 (as the case may be) Article 172, of its own shares otherwise than out of its distributable profits or the proceeds of a fresh issue of shares.
(2)
References in this Chapter to payment out of capital are (subject to paragraph (6)) to any payment so made, whether or not it would be regarded apart from this Article as a payment out of capital.
(3)
The payment which may (if authorised in accordance with the following provisions of this Chapter) be made by a company out of capital in respect of the redemption or purchase of its own shares is such an amount as, taken together with—
(a)
any available profits of the company, and
(b)
the proceeds of any fresh issue of shares made for the purposes of the redemption or purchase,
is equal to the price of redemption or purchase; and the payment permissible under this paragraph is referred to in this Chapter as the permissible capital payment for the shares.
(4)
Subject to paragraph (6), if the permissible capital payment for shares redeemed or purchased is less than their nominal amount, the amount of the difference shall be transferred to the company's capital redemption reserve.
(5)
Subject to paragraph (6), if the permissible capital payment is greater than the nominal amount of the shares redeemed or purchased—
(a)
the amount of any capital redemption reserve, share premium account or fully paid share capital of the company, and
(b)
any amount representing unrealised profits of the company for the time being standing to the credit of F2any revaluation reserve maintained by the company in accordance with regulations made under section 396 of the Companies Act 2006,
may be reduced by a sum not exceeding (or by sums not in the aggregate exceeding) the amount by which the permissible capital payment exceeds the nominal amount of the shares.
(6)
Where the proceeds of a fresh issue are applied by a company in making any redemption or purchase of its own shares in addition to a payment out of capital under this Article, the references in paragraphs (4) and (5) to the permissible capital payment are to be read as referring to the aggregate of that payment and those proceeds.