MUMBAI: The mega Rs 18,000-crore share buyback of Infosys, which is the biggest-ever offer that the IT major has announced till date, is opening November 20, and closes on the 26th.
The price for the buyback, first since 2022, has been set at Rs 1,800/share. In the previous buyback the Bengaluru company had agreed to buyback worth Rs 9,300 crore.
It can be noted that some of the promoters of the company had decided to opt out of the buyback, which according to analysts, signals confidence in future prospects and improves the entitlement ratio for retail investors.
In an exchange filing on October 22, Infosys had said its promoters and the promoter group had decided not to participate in the buyback.
Given its strong balance-sheet, the company is funding the buyback entirely through internal cash and reserves, underscoring its strong free cash flow generation.
As of September 2025, promoters and promoter group held 14.30 percent of the company, while 85.46 percent of Infosys is owned by the public.
Among the individual promoters, cofounder Nandan Nilekani holds 1.08%, Narayana Murthy and Sudha Murthy own 0.40% and 0.91% stake respectively, while their children Rohan and Akshata hold 1.60% and 1.03% of the company respectively.
Ahead of the offer, Infosys shares jumped nearly 4 percent to Rs 1,541 Wednesday.
Share buyback is a corporate action wherein a listed company buys back its shares from existing shareholders. Infosys' buyback price of Rs 1,800 marks a premium of over 19 prcent from the levels seen by the stock on the day it was announced in September.
Through the offer, Infosys plans to buy back 100 million of fully paid-up shares of a face value of Rs 5 each, representing up to 2.41 percent of the total paid-up equity share capital.
"The buyback is being undertaken after taking into account the strategic and operational cash needs of the company in the medium-term and for returning surplus funds to shareholders in an effective and efficient manner in line with its capital allocation policy," Infosys had said at the concall in the post-earnings presser in October.
The buyback has been divided into two categories-- reserved for small shareholders and the general category. The reservation for small shareholders will be 15 percent of the number of equity shares being proposed to buy back, or their entitlement, whichever is higher.
A small shareholder is someone who holds equity shares having a market value of not more than Rs 2 lakh, as on the record date and Infy has 25,85,684 small shareholders.
The ratio of buyback from the reserved category is set at 2:11, that is, 2 shares for every 11 held. For the general category, the ratio is 17:706.
Entitlement is the number of equity shares that an eligible shareholder is entitled to tender in the buyback, against the number of equity shares held by them on the record date.
However, given that how far the issue will get completed looks uncertain given the tax burden on the selling investor. Since October 2024,buyback proceeds are taxed as dividend in the hands of the shareholder, making the offer less attractive for those in higher tax brackets where the applicable rate is as high as 33 percent.
