San Francisco — Facebook said it will buy back as much as $6bn in shares, its first repurchase programme, in a bid to appease shareholders awaiting the results of big investments in potentially risky new growth areas. The buyback involved Class A common stock and would start in the first quarter of 2017, the company said in a regulatory filing. Facebook has $26bn in cash and marketable securities and is deploying some of that for buybacks, while still planning to increase its spending on growing the business. Facebook shares rose 1% in after-hours trading on Friday, following the news. The company joins a growing group of big US technology firms using buybacks to keep shareholders happy.
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