Rocket Internet to buy back up to 3.6 percent of its shares

BERLIN (Reuters) - German ecommerce company Rocket Internet will buy back up to 150 million euros ($175.25 million) worth of shares, or 3.6 percent of its outstanding stock, as it responds to investor calls to use some of its 2.1 billion euro cash pile. Rocket Internet had a shaky start after listing in 2014 but has seen its share price rise by more than a third this year after it listed a series of start-ups, Delivery Hero and HelloFresh last year, and Home24 in June. But its stock is still well under the level it listed at, putting pressure on Chief Executive Oliver Samwer to return some of its cash to shareholders, although he has said he wants to be ready to invest in new opportunities. ($1 = 0.8559 euros) (Reporting by Emma Thomasson, Editing by Tassilo Hummel)