An Empirical Study on Resale and Retirement of Treasury Shares: Evidence from Korea

Kim, Woojin; Lim, Jieun

doi:2017.46.1.35

Korean J Financ Stud > Volume 46(1); 2017 > Article

Korean Journal of Financial Studies 2017;46(1):35-60.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.26845/KJFS.2017.02.46.1.35 Published online February 28, 2017.

An Empirical Study on Resale and Retirement of Treasury Shares: Evidence from Korea

Woojin Kim, Jieun Lim

한국 기업의 자사주 처분 및 소각에 관한 실증 연구

김우진, 임지은

Abstract

This study reviews the regulatory background on resale of treasury shares in various countries and empirically examines how Korean publicly traded firms decide to resale or retire existing treasury shares. Previous studies on treasury shares mostly focus on repurchase activities. There is almost no empirical study on the decision to resell or retire treasury shares that have already been repurchased. We find that Korean firms tend to resell most of the treasury shares that have been repurchased rather than retiring them. Our main regression analysis after controlling for various factors indicates that firms with good corporate governance tend to retire treasury shares more than firms with bad governance. To the contrary, we find a negative relationship between governance level and the magnitude of resold treasury shares, especially when the amount being sold accounts for more than 10% of the issued shares. These findings suggest that treasury shares held through repurchases may be utilized as an anti-takeover mechanism to protect the incumbent controlling shareholders from potential takeover threats, rather than as a form of payout policy. Our findings provide empirical support for the recent regulatory initiative in Korea to treat resale of treasury shares in a similar manner as new share issues in order to protect minority shareholders.

Key Words: 경영권 방어,소각,자기주식,자사주,처분,Anti-Takeover Mechanism,Resale,Retirement,Share Repurchase,Treasury Shares