Why Are Nandan Nilekani and Sudha Murty Skipping the Rs 18,000 Crore Buyback?

Synopsis
Key Takeaways
- Promoters of Infosys, including Nandan Nilekani and Sudha Murty, are skipping the buyback.
- The buyback is valued at Rs 18,000 crore, the largest in the company's history.
- Infosys aims to balance cash needs and return surplus funds to shareholders.
- The decision highlights Infosys's strong cash position.
- This is the fifth buyback since 2017.
Bengaluru, Oct 22 (NationPress) Promoters of Infosys, including co-founder Nandan M. Nilekani and Sudha Murty, have chosen not to take part in the company's Rs 18,000 crore share buyback, according to an exchange filing released on Wednesday.
The group of promoters holds a collective 13.05 percent of Infosys' equity as of the buyback announcement.
Promoters include the family of co-founder N.R. Narayana Murthy—his wife Sudha N. Murty, daughter Akshata Murty, and son Rohan Murty—alongside co-founder Nilekani, his wife Rohini Nilekani, and their children Nihar and Janhavi Nilekani, among other co-founders and their families.
During a meeting on September 11, the Infosys board approved the company's largest share buyback yet, amounting to Rs 18,000 crore. The plan involves repurchasing 10 crore fully paid-up equity shares, each with a face value of Rs 5, at a price of Rs 1,800 per share, representing up to 2.41 percent of the total paid-up equity share capital.
The announcement stated, "The Board of Directors of Infosys Limited ('Company') has sanctioned the proposal to buy back equity shares for Rs 18,000 crore at a price of Rs 1,800 per equity share, payable in cash, entailing a purchase of 10,00,00,000 fully paid-up equity shares of the Company with a face value of Rs 5 each."
Infosys aims for this buyback to balance its strategic and operational cash requirements while returning surplus funds to shareholders, in alignment with its capital allocation policy.
This marks the fifth buyback initiated by Infosys since 2017. The initial buyback was valued at Rs 13,000 crore, during which the company repurchased 11.3 crore shares at Rs 1,150 each.
Subsequent buybacks included Rs 8,260 crore in 2019, Rs 9,200 crore in 2021, and Rs 9,300 crore in 2022.
This latest buyback underlines the strong cash position of the Bengaluru-based IT giant and its commitment to enhancing shareholder value.