Выражение встречается в следующем контексте:

"Представитель корпорации ... г-н ... сообщил о планах инвестора, и сообщил участникам товарищества о намерении корпорации ... в качестве предбиржевой покупки выкупить акции, которые должны перейти в собственность участников, призвал принять предложение, рассказал об условиях выкупа акций – по цене 1 доллар США за акцию."

Автор не специалист, естественно.
Речь идет о продаже доли в товариществе за акции американской корпорации. И потом якобы корпорация выкупит у них свои акции обратно в _какой-то момент_.

Вот в этом и вопрос, до IPO, что ли? Вак это правильно называется,?

Заранее спасибо

The representative of the company, Mr. X, reported on his investment plans and advised the members of the association (or whatever word you are using for товарищество) of the intentions of the company to purchase, as a pre-IPO transaction, the shares that would otherwise pass to such members, called upon them to accept the proposal, and further advised them of the conditions of purchase, specifically the purchase price being $1 per share.

Not a word for word translation, to be sure, but it reads nicely in English.

Кстати, они не otherwise pass, акции сначала к ним перейдут, а потом корпорация их обратно выкупит. Насколько я понимаю.

Companies that are anticipating an IPO often try to get shares back from existing shareholders, depending on the number of shares the others own, especially if they are "outsiders". This is because all the shareholders profit from the rise in price that follows an IPO. (Google "pre-IPO transaction" and you will see a lot of technical information on why these transactions take place.) The company doesn't want these guys to sell their shares in the market after the company goes public and drive down the price, or doesn't want them to profit, or simply doesn't want to have to deal with them after an IPO. In the US, they cannot sell right away anyway because their shares are "restricted" shares, but after a year they can do it, and the market can anticipate this if the number of shares is high enough.

Is there another sensible interpretation? Of course, there might be. If the company is not antipating an IPO, then there has to be. But there IS such a concept as pre-IPO share purchase. And I cannot think of what else it would be unless the company already IS publicly traded. THEN I would call it a "private" transaction.

I hope this helps, and the forum is full of smarter people than I, so please consider any other answers as well as mine. But I have 10 years' experience as a US securities lawyer, and it seemed to make sense to me.