I read about all the mergers and upcoming news, but I was wondering if the buyback was a surprise. If it was announced as a surprise and no speculation or hints into it I see this going 2 ways.
1) It was a "LOOK AT ME" PR to get all eyes on BIG news very very soon. Like as early as tomorrow and not weeks.
2) Make the announcement known, then no news for a while so price stays cheaper to buyback.
In either case this looks to be a stock repurchase because the company knows its going to be huge and they want more of the pie they baked.
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