Metaplanet repurchases 96.45M shares for $160M and redirects bond cash to Bitcoin

The Tokyo-listed Bitcoin treasury firm shrank its share count, paid off bonds early, and lifted its Bitcoin buying budget to about $212 million Metaplanet just spent roughly $160 million buying back its own stock. It also paid off a chunk of debt ahead of schedule and steered that freed-up money back toward Bitcoin. The Tokyo Stock Exchange-listed firm (TSE: 3350) repurchased 96,447,400 shares between October 14 and October 31. The total cost was ¥25.269 billion, or approximately $160 million. The buyback, by the numbers The repurchase falls under a program the board approved on October 13. That authorization lets Metaplanet buy back up to 200 million shares or ¥60 billion (roughly $380 million) worth of stock, with a deadline of October 2027. With this first round, the company has used about 42% of that ¥60 billion ceiling. It burned through a big portion of a multi-month budget in under three weeks. After the buyback, Metaplanet’s shares outstanding, excluding treasury shares, stand at approximately 1.2678 billion. A smaller share base has a knock-on effect on who owns what. Capital Research and Management saw its voting stake rise to 11.11%, largely because the denominator shran...