[winterchil]

What hasn't been mentioned yet is that employees hold Common Stock, whereas the investors generally hold preferred stock. The preferred stock is worth more than the common stock because of special protections/provisions/voting rights/etc.

It's perfectly reasonable that the price would be lower on a buyback program. On the other hand controlling the equity is pretty important and it's not surprising they won't let it go to open market.

Welcome to the wonderful world of being a minority shareholder.