As time moved on, Unigate's involvement changed and, in 1978, the cooperative bought back Unigate's stake in the Ballyragget facility.

In 1999, after protracted dispute with Piaggio, LML bought back Piaggio's stake in the company and the partnership ceased.

In the wake of Menatep's collapse after the financial meltdown in Russia last year, Valmet is invoking its right to buy back its stake.

Analysts say Bertelsmann could still buy back Group Bruxelles Lambert's stake but it might cost $8 billion.

Under terms of the deal, Veritas Software will buy back its one-third stake held by Seagate and redistribute the assets to Seagate's stockholders.

Alibaba's founder Jack Ma has also been trying to buy back the company's stake from Yahoo for some time.

Isad92, it bought back Lonrho plc's 50% stake in the company; and went public in May 1994.

Time Warner has long resisted Mr. Turner's broadcast-network ambitions, just as it has resisted his efforts so far to buy back its stake in his company.

AOL bought back Bertelsmann's stake in AOL Europe for about $8 billion.

And if he tries to buy back their stake or reconfigure the company, "institutional investors today are more inclined to be litigious and not willing to stand for being taken," the executive said.