The purchases of own shares is a particularly flexible and effective source of cash flow for the owner. The purchases of own shares transactions may be treated as payment of additional funds to shareholders- an alternative to the payment of dividends. At the same time, they are investment decisions of a determined rate of return and decisions determining capital and shareholder structure. Such decisions also produce significant implications for the operational activities.

In the developed capital markets the purchase of own shares has become a popular way of transferring funds to shareholders. In the second half of the 1990s, capital earmarked for the purchase of own shares exceeded proceeds from the issue of shares. This tendency has gained momentum also in the Polish public capital market. In the years 2000-2004 an increased number of companies proceeded with the purchase of their own shares. The record level - in terms of number and value of purchases - was achieved in the year 2003. At the same time, in 2002, among 225 surveyed companies (excluding banks, insurance companies and investment funds) those expenditures represented 53% of expenditures on dividends and 35% of the total transfer of funds to owners. In the period 2003-2004, the share purchase-related expenditure constituted 1% of all investment-related expenditure and about 2% of expenditure on financial assets.

The pivotal reasons for the purchase of own shares include: sending a message of the sound position of the company, preventing a fall in share prices, transferring funds to the owners, optimising tax payments, changing capital and ownership structure, allocating the company capital on the capital market, rolling out a management incentive scheme, creating a more positive image of the balance sheet position, protecting against hostile takeovers. The above reasons vary in importance for particular groups of stake holders concerned: particular categories of shareholders, company management and lenders. The importance of different reasons changes over time along with the change in tax dues, the economic situation and development prospects for different sectors.

The decisions on the purchase of shares lead to the diminution of the company capitals. Therefore, the funds for this purpose have to be carefully monitored. The funds retained in the company should suffice for the financing of the effective operational activity and sustainable development of the company. The purchase of own shares plans should be strictly correlated to the long-term strategy of the company.