IT Giant Infosys Opens ₹18,000 Cr Buyback on Nov 20

Infosys Ltd, India’s second-largest IT services firm, will open a share-buyback window worth ₹18,000 crore from Thursday, 20 November, and it will close on Wednesday, 26 November. The company’s shareholders approved the plan on 6 November to buy back up to 10 crore fully paid-up equity shares, at a buy-back price of ₹1,800 per share. The record date is set as 14 November 2025 for eligibility. Will this buy-back materially affect shareholder value, and what existing investors should keep an eye on?

What Are the Exact Terms of the Buy-Back?

The buy-back is being conducted via the tender-offer route, meaning eligible shareholders will have the option to tender (sell) their shares back to the company during the window of 20–26 November 2025. The offer price is ₹1,800 per share with a face value of ₹5 each, and the maximum number of shares to be bought back is 10 crores, which works out to about 2.41% of the company’s paid-up equity share capital on a standalone basis.

Previously, Infosys conducted buy-backs in 2022 worth ₹9,300 crore (via open market route) and in 2019 of around ₹8,260 crore. So, this ₹18,000 crore programme is its largest ever buy-back. This means the buy-back size and price are meaningful when compared to prior practice.

Why Has Infosys Launched Such a Large Buy-Back Now?

Several reasons may underlie this move by Infosys:

• To return surplus capital to shareholders, as stated in its capital-allocation policy, since the business generates cash but may not have immediate internal deployment needs.
• To reduce share capital and the number of shares outstanding, which often improves metrics like earnings per share (EPS) and return on equity (ROE). According to the letter of offer from Infosys to BSE, assuming full acceptance, the issued shares after buy-back would reduce from ~415.44 crore to ~405.44 crore.

As an investor, key items to monitor include:

• The acceptance rate. If fewer shareholders tender their shares, the buyback will end up smaller than planned, which affects the intended reduction in share capital.
• The amount of cash outflow from the company and how this affects its capacity to invest in other areas of growth like digital, AI, or cloud services.
• Any modifications to patterns of shareholding. As promoters have chosen not to participate, they may marginally increase their shareholding after the buy-back.

A question worth asking is: how will this buy-back influence metrics, and does it reflect underlying business strength?

What Are the Potential Outcomes?

The outcomes of this buy-back could vary depending on execution and participation:

• If the buy-back is fully accepted, the drop in share capital will make EPS better, assuming profit remains stable, which may be viewed positively by markets.
• If acceptance is low and many shareholders do not tender, the impact may be smaller and the expected improvement in metrics may be muted.
• From a share-market perspective, the price of ₹1,800 needs to be compared to the market price on the record date.

Important indicators for shareholders to watch going forward:

• The announcement of tender results after the window closes (likely early December) may show how many shares were accepted.
• The next quarter’s EPS and ROE, whether these metrics improve after the buy-back.
• Whether Infosys indicates any change in capital-allocation policy, for example, more frequent buy-backs or larger dividends.

Conclusion

Infosys’ ₹18,000 crore buy-back, opening 20–26 November, with a price of ₹1,800 per share and targeting up to 10 crore shares (≈2.4% of equity), is a major capital-return event. The key question is: will it translate into measurable improvement in shareholder value via higher EPS and ROE, or will the business fundamentals and broader IT-services growth conditions remain the dominant drivers?

References

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