Wipro’s Rs 9,500 crore share buyback to start tomorrow. Here’s all you need to know

Wipro’s proposal to return around Rs 9,500 crore to shareholders through share buyback will begin on Tuesday, December 29, and close on January 11, 2021. The last date for settlement of bids on the stock exchange will be on or before January 20, 2021.

Shareholders had last month approved Wipro’s buyback plan for the purchase of up to 23.75 crore equity shares at Rs 400 per share, aggregating to an amount of up to Rs 9,500 crore. “…the company received final comments from the Securities and Exchange Board of India on December 21, 2020, with respect to the Draft Letter of Offer filed by the company for the captioned buyback…the company will dispatch the Letter of Offer to eligible shareholders,” Wipro had said in a regulatory filing.

Wipro had last year undertaken a buyback programme of 32.31 crore shares at Rs 325 apiece, aggregating to about Rs 10,500 crore. Before that, Wipro had announced a buyback worth Rs 11,000 crore in 2017 and Rs 2,500 crore in 2016.

Wipro’s rival Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has also proposed a mega Rs 16,000-crore buyback plan at Rs 3,000 per equity share. The company’s buyback offer commenced on December 18 and is slated to close on January 1, 2021.

Here is all you need to know about Wipro’s Rs 9,500 cr share buyback:

1. The IT major plans to buy back up to 23.75 crore shares at a face value of Rs 2 each at a price of Rs 400 per share.

2. The date for determining entitlement and names of equity eligible shareholders was December 11.

3.A floor price of Rs 400 per equity share is set which is currently at a premium compared to the market price.

4. Wipro had said in its letter of offer that members of the promoter and promoter group have expressed their intention to participate in the buyback and may tender up to an aggregate maximum number of 414 crore equity shares or such lower number of shares in accordance with the rules.

5. The promoter and promoter group at present hold 422 crore equity shares or 74.01 per cent of equity shares in the company’s total outstanding equity share capital.

6. Of the total shareholding, Azim H Premji is the largest shareholder with 23.68 crore equity shares or 4.14 per cent in Wipro.

7. Wipro’s buyback involves 23.75 crore equity shares representing up to 4.16 per cent of the total issued and paid-up equity share capital of the company.

8. Wipro’s shareholders had approved the share buyback proposal on November 17, 2020, a month after its board approved the plan.

9. The voting, which started on October 18 and ended on November 16, saw 99.78 per cent of the votes being cast in favour of the buyback offer.

10. There was 100% voting in favour of the proposal by the promoters, 98.73% by public institutional shareholders and 98.49% by public non-institutional shareholders.

(With agency inputs)

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