RE:RE:RE:RE:RE:RE:RE:RE:Pipestone, so quiet of late I've read it. Carefully. And last year's. And the info circ. And the AIF. And the annual and interim financials. I suggest you read it again, all of it, and perhaps read what other companies are doing. Does nobody on this board do their homework before they buy a stock?
The rules also allow for "block" trades to allow a company to make one-off large purchases.
From the same press release, you conveniently stopped reading? Or you don't understand?
"Pipestone may make one block purchase per calendar week which exceeds the daily repurchase restrictions"
So they can make 52 of these large purchases per year. On top of the 156,214 per day. And I don't believe there is any limit to the size of the block other than the annual 5 or 10% limits.
They had no problem buying the 5% maximum for the year ended Nov 22. That's one of the reasons they wanted to add the sib to the tool box. So setting the NCIB at 10% instead of 5% just seems like an obvious next move. There is no obligation to buy all 10%. In fact, the vast majority of buybacks do NOT even come close to buying back the whole 10%. Outside the energy producers who uniquely in their own history, and uniquely across other industries, have chosen to NOT blow themselves up drilling and doing M&A to grow,grow,grow. Instead, unlike every other cycle, and unlike every other industry, they have chosen to pay dividends and buy back their own shares.
As for the uptick rules, it's nothing a competent lawyer and broker can't get around. I'm not going to try and explain all the intricacies, nor am I going to copy/paste all the rules and exemptions. I will say it's sufficiently complicated that any cfo would be wise to hire a broker not only to continue the NCIB during the regularly scheduled blackout periods, but to ensure all rules are followed, all exemptions are maximized, and all reporting requirements are filed correctly and on time. Below is a link to highlight just some of the issues as presented by securities lawyers at Faskens. All the major law firms offer big picture advice free or cheap. Or, you can take my word for it. There are no real impediments to pipe buying back 10% of their float as quickly as they like and with 280 million shares outstanding now, there should be plenty of shares for sale in blocks. Just using the alternate trading systems, ie any of those platforms other than tsx or tsx-v , will dispense with most restrictions. It's very typical for 30-50% of all trading volume to occur on one of those other platforms that are exempt from tsx rules.
https://www.timelydisclosure.com/2022/07/11/toronto-stock-exchange-staff-notice-on-normal-course-issuer-bids/