TCS Rs 18,000 cr buyback subscribed 7.5x, with 300 mn shares tendered

Acceptance ratio is lower than previous buybacks done by the firm

The Rs 18,000-crore share buyback programme of Tata Consultancy Services, India’s second-most valuable firm, was subscribed over 7.5 times. According to data provided by stock exchanges, 300 million shares were tendered against the offer size of 40 million shares.

The Tata group flagship firm will extinguish 1.08 per cent of its equity under the buyback programme. The buyback is being done at Rs 4,500 per share—over 21 per cent premium to TCS’s last close. Shares of TCS last closed at Rs 3,708, up 0.2 per cent over the previous day’s close. The tender route buyback, which commenced on March 9, ended on Wednesday.

As per an analysis done by Edelweiss Alternative Research, the acceptance ratio for retail investors could be 14.3 per cent. In other words, one share could get accepted in the buyback for every 7 shares tendered. For non-retail investors, only one share could get accepted for every 108 shares tendered.

The acceptance ratio is lower than previous buybacks done by TCS.

In 2020, TCS did a Rs 16,000-crore buyback where the acceptance ratio was 100 per cent for retail and 10 per cent for non-retail investors, as per an Edelweiss study.