Subject to the provisions of this Chapter, a company limited by shares or limited by guarantee and having a share capital may, if authorised to do so by its articles, issue shares which are to be redeemed or are liable to be redeemed at the option of the company or the shareholder.

No redeemable shares may be issued at a time when there are no issued shares of the company which are not redeemable.

Redeemable shares may not be redeemed unless they are fully paid; and the terms of redemption must provide for payment on redemption.

Redeemable shares may not be issued unless the following conditions are satisfied as regards the terms and manner of redemption.

The date on or by which, or dates between which, the shares are to be or may be redeemed must be specified in the company’s articles or, if the articles so provide, fixed by the directors, and in the latter case the date or dates must be fixed before the shares are issued.

Any other circumstances in which the shares are to be or may be redeemed must be specified in the company’s articles.

The amount payable on redemption must be specified in, or determined in accordance with, the company’s articles, and in the latter case the articles must not provide for the amount to be determined by reference to any person’s discretion or opinion.

Any other terms and conditions of redemption shall be specified in the company’s articles.

Nothing in this section shall be construed as requiring a company to provide in its articles for any matter for which provision is made by this Act.

Subject to the following provisions of this Chapter, redemption of shares may be effected on such terms and in such manner as may be provided by the company’s articles.

Shares F3redeemed under this sectionF3redeemed under this Chapter shall be treated as cancelled on redemption, and the amount of the company’s issued share capital shall be diminished by the nominal value of those shares accordingly; but the redemption of shares by a company is not to be taken as reducing the amount of the company’s authorised share capital.

Without prejudice to subsection (4), where a company is about to redeem shares, it has power to issue shares up to the nominal value of the shares to be redeemed as if those shares had never been issued.

Subject to the following provisions of this Chapter, a company limited by shares or limited by guarantee and having a share capital may, if authorised to do so by its articles, purchase its own shares (including any redeemable shares).

Sections 159 to 161 apply to the purchase by a company under this section of its own shares as they apply to the redemption of redeemable shares, save that the terms and manner of purchase need not be determined by the articles as required by section 160(3).

A company may not under this section purchase its shares if as a result of the purchase there would no longer be any member of the company holding shares other than redeemable shares.

Where shares are held under subsection (1)(a) then, for the purposes of section 352, the company must be entered in the register as the member holding those shares.

Where a company has shares of only one class, the aggregate nominal value of shares held as treasury shares must not at any time exceed 10 per cent. of the nominal value of the issued share capital of the company at that time.

Where the share capital of a company is divided into shares of different classes, the aggregate nominal value of the shares of any class held as treasury shares must not at any time exceed 10 per cent. of the nominal value of the issued share capital of the shares in that class at that time.

Where subsection (1) or (2) is contravened by a company, the company must dispose of or cancel the excess shares, in accordance with section 162D, before the end of the period of 12 months beginning with the day on which that contravention occurs.

This section applies to shares which are held by a company as treasury shares (“the treasury shares”).

The company must not exercise any right in respect of the treasury shares, and any purported exercise of such a right is void.

The rights to which subsection (2) applies include any right to attend or vote at meetings (including meetings under section 425).

No dividend may be paid, and no other distribution (whether in cash or otherwise) of the company’s assets (including any distribution of assets to members on a winding up) may be made, to the company in respect of the treasury shares.

Any shares allotted as fully paid bonus shares in respect of the treasury shares shall be treated for the purposes of this Act as if they were purchased by the company at the time they were allotted, in circumstances in which section 162A(1) applied.

But if the company receives a notice under section 429 (right of offeror to buy out minority shareholders) that a person desires to acquire any of the shares, the company must not, under subsection (1), sell or transfer the shares to which the notice relates except to that person.

If under subsection (1) the company cancels shares held as treasury shares, the company must diminish the amount of the issued share capital by the nominal value of the shares cancelled; but the cancellation is not to be taken as reducing the amount of the company’s authorised share capital.

The directors may take such steps as are requisite to enable the company to cancel its shares under subsection (1) without complying with sections 135 and 136 (resolution to reduce issued share capital; application to court for approval).

If shares held as treasury shares cease to be qualifying shares, the company must forthwith cancel the shares in accordance with section 162D.

For the purposes of this section “regulated market” means a market which is a regulated market for the purposes of Article 16 of Council Directive 93/22/EEC on investment services in the securities field.

Where shares held as treasury shares are sold, the proceeds of sale shall be dealt with in accordance with this section.

Where the proceeds of sale are equal to or less than the purchase price paid by the company for the shares, the proceeds shall be treated for the purposes of Part 8 as a realised profit of the company.

The purchase price paid by the company for the shares shall be determined by the application of a weighted average price method.

Where the shares were allotted to the company as fully paid bonus shares, the purchase price paid for them shall, for the purposes of subsection (4), be treated as being nil.

A purchase by a company of its own shares is a “market purchase” if it is a purchase made on a recognised stock exchange, other than a purchase which is an off-market purchase by virtue of subsection (1)(b).

In this section “recognised investment exchange” means a recognised investment exchange other than an overseas investment exchange within the meaning of the Financial Services Act 1986.

A company may only make an off-market purchase of its own shares in pursuance of a contract approved in advance in accordance with this section or under section 165 below.

The terms of the proposed contract must be authorised by a special resolution of the company before the contract is entered into; and the following subsections apply with respect to that authority and to resolutions conferring it.

Subject to the next subsection, the authority may be varied, revoked or from time to time renewed by special resolution of the company.

In the case of a public company, the authority conferred by the resolution must specify a date on which the authority is to expire; and in a resolution conferring or renewing authority that date must not be later than 18 months after that on which the resolution is passed.

A company may agree to a variation of an existing contract so approved, but only if the variation is authorised by a special resolution of the company before it is agreed to; and subsections (3) to (6) above apply to the authority for a proposed variation as they apply to the authority for a proposed contract, save that a copy of the original contract or (as the case may require) a memorandum of its terms, together with any variations previously made, must also be available for inspection in accordance with subsection (6).

A company may only make a purchase of its own shares in pursuance of a contingent purchase contract if the contract is approved in advance by a special resolution of the company before the contract is entered into; and subsections (3) to (7) of section 164 apply to the contract and its terms.

A company shall not make a market purchase of its own shares unless the purchase has first been authorised by the company in general meeting.

The authority may be varied, revoked or from time to time renewed by the company in general meeting, but this is subject to subsection (3) above; and in a resolution to confer or renew authority, the date on which the authority is to expire must not be later than 18 months after that on which the resolution is passed.

A company may under this section make a purchase of its own shares after the expiry of the time limit imposed to comply with subsection (3)(c), if the contract of purchase was concluded before the authority expired and the terms of the authority permitted the company to make a contract of purchase which would or might be executed wholly or partly after its expiration.

A resolution of a company conferring, varying, revoking or renewing authority under this section is subject to section 380 (resolution to be sent to registrar of companies within 15 days).

The rights of a company under a contract approved under section 164 or 165, or under a contract for a purchase authorised under section 166, are not capable of being assigned.

An agreement by a company to release its rights under a contract approved under section 164 or 165 is void unless the terms of the release agreement are approved in advance by a special resolution of the company before the agreement is entered into; and subsections (3) to (7) of section 164 apply to approval for a proposed release agreement as to authority for a proposed variation of an existing contract.

Within the period of 28 days beginning with the date on which any shares purchased by a company under this Chapter are delivered to it, the company shall deliver to the registrar of companies for registration a return in the prescribed form stating with respect to shares of each class purchased the number and nominal value of those shares and the date on which they were delivered to the company.

Particulars of shares delivered to the company on different dates and under different contracts may be included in a single return to the registrar; and in such a case the amount required to be stated under subsection (2)(a) is the aggregate amount paid by the company for all the shares to which the return relates.

If default is made in delivering to the registrar any return required by this section, every officer of the company who is in default is liable to a fine and, for continued contravention, to a daily default fine.

If default is made in complying with subsection (4), or if an inspection required under subsection (5) is refused, the company and every officer of it who is in default is liable to a fine and, for continued contravention, to a daily default fine.

In the case of a refusal of an inspection required under subsection (5) of a copy or memorandum, the court may by order compel an immediate inspection of it.

The obligation of a company under subsection (4) to keep a copy of any contract or (as the case may be) a memorandum of its terms applies to any variation of the contract so long as it applies to the contract.

Particulars of shares cancelled or disposed of on different dates may be included in a single return to the registrar.

If default is made in delivering to the registrar any return required by this section, every officer of the company who is in default is liable to a fine and, for continued contravention, to a daily default fine.

Where under this Chapter shares of a company are redeemed or purchased wholly out of the company’s profits, the amount by which the company’s issued share capital is diminished in accordance with section 160(4) on cancellation of the shares redeemed or purchased shall be transferred to a reserve, called “the capital redemption reserve”.

Of the shares are redeemed or purchased wholly or partly out of the proceeds of a fresh issue and the aggregate amount of those proceeds is less than the aggregate nominal value of the shares redeemed or purchased, the amount of the difference shall be transferred to the capital redemption reserve.

But subsection (2) does not apply if the proceeds of the fresh issue are applied by the company in making a redemption or purchase of its own shares in addition to a payment out of capital under section 171.

The provisions of this Act relating to the reduction of a company’s share capital apply as if the capital redemption reserve were paid-up share capital of the company, except that the reserve may be applied by the company in paying up its unissued shares to be allotted to members of the company as fully paid bonus shares.

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 section 160 or (as the case may be) section 162, of its own shares otherwise than out of its distributable profits or the proceeds of a fresh issue of shares.

References below in this Chapter to payment out of capital are (subject to subsection (6)) to any payment so made, whether or not it would be regarded apart from this section as a payment out of capital.

Subject to subsection (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.

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 section, the references in subsections (4) and (5) to the permissible capital payment are to be read as referring to the aggregate of that payment and those proceeds.

The reference in section 171(3)(a) to available profits of the company is to the company’s profits which are available for distribution (within the meaning of Part VIII); but the question whether a company has any profits so available and the amount of any such profits are to be determined for purposes of that section in accordance with the following subsections, instead of sections 270 to 275 in that Part.

The relevant accounts for this purpose are such accounts, prepared as at any date within the period for determining the amount of the permissible capital payment, as are necessary to enable a reasonable judgment to be made as to the amounts of any of the items mentioned in subsection (2)(a) to (c) above.

For purposes of determining the amount of the permissible capital payment for shares, the amount of the company’s available profits (if any) determined in accordance with subsections (2) and (3) is treated as reduced by the amount of any distributions lawfully made by the company after the date of the relevant accounts and before the end of the period for determining the amount of that payment.

References in this section to the period for determining the amount of the permissible capital payment for shares are to the period of 3 months ending with the date on which the statutory declaration of the directors purporting to specify the amount of that payment is made in accordance with subsection (3) of the section next following.

Subject to any order of the court under section 177, a payment out of capital by a private company for the redemption or purchase of its own shares is now lawful unless the requirements of this and the next two sections are satisfied.

The payment out of capital must be approved by a special resolution of the company.

In forming their opinion for purposes of subsection (3)(a), the directors shall take into account the same liabilities (including prospective and contingent liabilities) as would be relevant under F11section 122 of the Insolvency Act (winding up by the court) to the question whether a company is unable to pay its debts.

A director who makes a declaration under this section without having reasonable grounds for the opinion expressed in the declaration is liable to imprisonment or a fine, or both.

The resolution required by section 173 must be passed on, or within the week immediately following, the date on which the directors make the statutory declaration required by that section; and the payment out of capital must be made no earlier than 5 nor more than 7 weeks after the date of the resolution.

The resolution is ineffective if any member of the company holding shares to which the resolution relates exercises the voting rights carried by any of those shares in voting on the resolution and the resolution would not have been passed if he had not done so.

For purposes of subsection (2), a member who holds such shares is to be regarded as exercising the voting rights carried by them in voting on the resolution not only if he votes in respect of them on a poll on the question whether the resolution shall be passed, but also if he votes on the resolution otherwise than on a poll; and notwithstanding anything in a company’s articles, any member of the company may demand a poll on that question.

The resolution is ineffective unless the statutory declaration and auditors’ report required by the section are available for inspection by members of the company at the meeting at which the resolution is passed.

For purposes of this section a vote and a demand for a poll by a person as proxy for a member are the same (respectively) as a vote and demand by the member.

Within the week immediately following the date of the resolution the company must also either cause a notice to the same effect as that required by subsection (1) to be published in an appropriate national newspaper or give notice in writing to that effect to each of its creditors.

“An appropriate national newspaper” means a newspaper circulating throughout England and Wales (in the case of a company registered in England and Wales), and a newspaper circulating throughout Scotland (in the case of a company registered in Scotland).

References below in this section to the first notice date are to the day on which the company first publishes the notice required by subsection (1) or first publishes or gives the notice required by subsection (2) (whichever is the earlier).

Not later than the first notice date the company must deliver to the registrar of companies a copy of the statutory declaration of the directors and of the auditors’ report required by section 173.

If an inspection required under subsection (6) is refused, the company and every officer of it who is in default is liable to a fine and, for continued contravention, to a daily default fine.

In the case of refusal of an inspection required under subsection (6) of a declaration or report, the court may by order compel an immediate inspection of that declaration or report.

The application may be made on behalf of the persons entitled to make it by such one or more of their number as they may appoint in writing for the purpose.

A company which fails to comply with subsection (3), and any officer of it who is in default, is liable to a fine and for continued contravention, to a daily default fine.

On the hearing of an application under section 176 the court may, if it thinks fit, adjourn the proceedings in order that an arrangement may be made to the court’s satisfaction for the purchase of the interests of dissentient members or for the protection of dissentient creditors (as the case may be); and the court may give such directions and make such orders as it thinks expedient for facilitating or carrying into effect any such arrangement.

Without prejudice to its powers under subsection (1), the court shall make an order on such terms and conditions as it thinks fit either confirming or cancelling the resolution; and, if the court confirms the resolution, it may in particular by order alter or extend any date or period of time specified in the resolution or in any provision in this Chapter which applies to the redemption or purchase of shares to which the resolution refers.

The court’s order may, if the court thinks fit, provide for the purchase by the company of the shares of any of its members and for the reduction accordingly of the company’s capital, and may make such alterations in the company’s memorandum and articles as may be required in consequence of that provision.

If the court’s order requires the company not to make any, or any specified, alteration in its memorandum or articles, the company has not then power without leave of the court to make any such alteration in breach of the requirement.

An alteration in the memorandum or articles made by virtue of an order under this section, if not made by resolution of the company, is of the same effect as if duly made by resolution; and this Act applies accordingly to the memorandum or articles as so altered.

The company is not liable in damages in respect of any failure on its part to redeem or purchase any of the shares.

Subsection (2) is without prejudice to any right of the holder of the shares other than his right to sue the company for damages in respect of its failure; but the court shall not grant an order for specific performance of the terms of redemption or purchase if the company shows that it is unable to meet the costs of redeeming or purchasing the shares in question out of distributable profits.

If the company is wound up and at the commencement of the winding up any of the shares have not been redeemed or purchased, the terms of redemption or purchase may be enforced against the company; and when shares are redeemed or purchased under this subsection, they are treated as cancelled.

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No regulations shall be made under this section unless a draft of the instrument containing them has been laid before Parliament and approved by resolution of each House.

Any preference shares issued by a company before 15th June 1982 which could but for the repeal by the M1Companies Act 1981 of section 58 of the M2Companies Act 1948 (power to issue redeemable preference shares) have been redeemed under that section are subject to redemption in accordance with the provisions of this Chapter.

In a case to which sections 159 and 160 apply by virtue of this section, any premium payable on redemption may, notwithstanding the repeal by the 1981 Act of any provision of the 1948 Act, be paid out of the share premium account instead of out of profits, or partly out of that account and partly out of profits (but subject to the provisions of this Chapter so far as payment is out of profits).

Any capital redemption reserve fund established before 15th June 1982 by a company for the purposes of section 58 of the Act of 1948 is to be known as the company’s capital redemption reserve and be treated as if it had been established for the purposes of section 170 of this Act; and accordingly, a reference in any enactment or in the articles of any company, or in any other instrument, to a company’s capital redemption reserve fund is to be construed as a reference to the company’s capital redemption reserve.