RPT-Taiwan's UMC to buy back 1.51 pct of its shares

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TAIPEI, Aug 27 (Reuters) - Taiwan's United Microelectronics Corp (2303.TW), the world's second largest contract chip maker, said on Wednesday its board approved a plan to buy back up to 1.51 percent of its shares on the open market for T$79.5 billion ($2.52 billion).

UMC (UMC.N) will buy the shares at T$9.31-T$21.05 per share from Aug. 28 to Oct. 27, in a move aimed at boosting shareholder value, the company said in a statement to the Taiwan stock exchange.

The news came after the Taipei stock market closed on Wednesday. UMC shares rose 2.7 percent to T$13.30, outperforming the main TAIEX index's 1.7 percent jump. (US$1=T$31.5) (Reporting by Baker Li and Lee Chyen Yee; Editing by Chris Wickham)