It is an LBO. The board approves because they have to get the highest price, and LBOs usually pay cash. It’s a natural move when companies can’t invest in pro

It is an LBO. The board approves because they have to get the highest price, and LBOs usually pay cash. It’s a natural move when companies can’t invest in profitable growth any more. At that point it’s time to start returning money to shareholders who can invest it elsewhere. They have to change how they operate and management teams (and their playbooks) that optimize for growth are different than optimizing for returning cash to shareholders today. One long term way to do this is the IBM model of continuous underinvestment, layoffs and share buybacks. A company can accomplish this more quickly with an LBO and new management team.