I think you may have an incorrect perception of this. The purpose of an on-market buy-back is to benefit shareholders by reducing the number of shares on issue. With fewer SOI, an individual shareholder holds a greater proportion of the company, and will benefit from a greater share of distributions (e.g. dividends etc).
As the helpful site 'Motl.y F..l' puts it: "In essence, a share buyback reduces the amount of a company's share capital. All things being equal, this should boost shareholder returns because the company's profits will be spread across fewer shares. For this reason, share prices often rise after a company announces a share buyback program."
I suppose a shareholder could 'participate' by simply selling some shares on the market, which may end up being purchased as part of the buy-back.
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