Infosys' Rs 13,000 cr share buyback: Some founders intent to sell stake, says company

Bengaluru: Infosys founders are likely to sell some of their stake in the company’s Rs 13,000-crore share buyback programme, the company said on Monday. The promoters keenness to participate in the buyback comes within days of a silent coup by founders led by N R Narayana Murthy to seize control of India’s second-biggest software services firm. The founders and their families between them hold some 12.75 percent (29.28 crore shares) of Infosys. Murthy declined to comment on if he would participate in the buyback. The buyback price of Rs 1,150 is higher than the current stock trading price of Rs 941.15 and is considered “reasonably good” by the firms former CFO V Balakrishnan. Founded in 1981 by seven engineers - all former employees of Patni Computer Systems - with an initial capital of US $250, Infosys today has grown into over US $10 billion company. [caption id=“attachment_1564315” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image. Reuters[/caption] “In terms of buyback regulations, under the tender offer route, the promoters have the option to participate in the buyback. We would like to inform… that some of the members of the promoter and promoters group of the company have communicated their intention to participate in the proposed buyback,” Infosys said in a BSE filing. The company, however, did not give details. The announcement comes days after an upheaval at the Infosys board, which first saw the company’s first non-founder CEO Vishal Sikka quit citing slander by founders. Over the next few days, Murthy-and-Co installed fellow founder Nandan Nilekani as the Chairman. Infosys has said the buyback is subject to approval of shareholders through a special resolution and the announcement on the modalities such as process and timeline will be “released in due course”. On 19 August, a day after Sikka’s resignation, the then Infosys board approved the share buyback plan of up to Rs 13,000 crore to reward shareholders. The company plans to buy back 11.3 crore shares at Rs 1,150 apiece. Infosys’ first-ever buyback is second only in terms of size to the Rs 16,000 crore share repurchase by its bigger rival Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) announced in April this year. Infosys stock gained 3.14 percent to end at Rs 941.15 on the BSE on Monday.