Marks & Spencer chairman Paul Myners has again insisted that this summer's potential bid from Philip Green undervalued the high street retailer. Myners was speaking to enable shareholders to vote on the retailer's £2.3bn share buyback, designed to return proceeds from the sale of the M&S Money business, one of the initiatives implemented by new chief executive Stuart Rose.

M&S shareholders voted 99.56 per cent in favour of the buyback plan. A 'yes' vote does not commit then to sell all or any shares, with some analysts expecting more institutional shareholders to take up the offer, while smaller investors are more likely to hold onto their stake to give Rose's strategy time to have an impact. The final take-up will set the exact price.

Responding to criticism that the buyback is priced in a range of 332p to 380p a share, below the final 400p a share Bhs and Arcadia owner Green was willing to offer, Myners said: "A potential offer for all the company's shares is one thing. A move to repurchase a significant proportion of equity, leaving the rest in your hands, is entirely different.

"As far as the possible bid was concerned, the board concluded that the proposal of no more than 400p a share was a significant undervaluation of your business." He said the rejection of Green's potential offer "was not a promise to return the share price to 400p in a matter of months. No responsible board could make such a promise. The rejection was about the value of your investment over the longer term - as our plan begins to bear fruit."