Debt-financed repurchases and credit ratings with the respect of free cash flow and repurchase purpose

We find that the fraction of debt used to finance share repurchases is negatively associated with credit ratings. In particular, this association is more pronounced for firms with a high level of free cash flow. We further divide the sample by the repurchase purpose. We find that the associations between debt-financed repurchases, free cash flow, and credit ratings hold when the repurchase is made for the purpose of transferring shares to employees or for the purpose of equity conversion of convertible securities, but not when it is made for maintaining the company’s credit.