Infosys buyback: Infosys has started its huge share buyback of Rs 18,000 crore from today (20 November). This process will continue till 26 November. This is considered to be the biggest buyback in the history of the company. This time the buyback price has been kept at Rs 1,800 per share. According to this price, common investors are sure to get a good premium over the current market price. On November 20, at 10:35 am, Infosys shares were trading at Rs 1,542.90.
The company has divided the buyback into two parts. First- Reserve Category (Small Investors) and second General Category. A total of 15 percent share is reserved for small investors, which will be decided according to their rights or the company’s plan, whichever is higher. Small investors are considered to be those who held shares worth less than Rs 2 lakh till the record date i.e. November 14. The total number of such investors is 25,85,684. The buyback ratio in the reserved group has been fixed at 2:11, that is, if you have kept 11 shares, then you have the right to accept 2 shares.
Share buybacks are generally done when the company has enough cash and wants to return profits to investors. Same is the case with Infosys also. The company has set a target of buying back 10 crore shares, which is about 2.41 percent of its total share capital. Considering that the company is doing this entire buyback with its own cash and reserves, its financial position is considered to be quite strong.
Infosys buyback: Which promoter has how many shares?
What makes this buyback special is that the promoters of the company are not taking part in this process. In its filing dated October 22, Infosys said that promoters and promoter groups will not participate in the buyback. As of September 30, 2025, promoter groups held 14.30 percent stake in the company and the remaining 85.46 percent is with the public. Among individual promoters, Nandan Neelkani holds 1.08 percent, N. R. Narayana Murthy holds 0.40 per cent, Sudha Murthy holds 0.91 per cent, while his children Rohan Murthy and Akshata Murthy hold 1.60 per cent and 1.03 per cent respectively.
What do experts say?
With promoters not participating, applications from retail investors are more likely to be accepted. Abhinav Tiwari (Bonanza) said, “Since the promoters are not participating in the buyback, the acceptance ratio for retail investors may increase, which can give them good benefits.” Saurabh Jain of SMC Global also reiterated the same point that this decision of the promoters shows their confidence in the future of the company. At the same time, Anita Gandhi of Arihant Capital Markets believes that this step of the promoters further strengthens the positive sentiment towards the IT sector in the minds of investors.
Infosys buyback: What is the tax calculation?
However, the tax aspect is equally important for investors. According to Ajit Mishra (Religare Broking), from October 2024, buyback will be taxed like ‘dividend’. Overall, the buyback amount is treated as dividend (10% TDS for residents, 20% for non-residents).
This makes this option less attractive for people in higher tax slabs, while those paying less tax can get good benefits. Abhinav Tiwari also said that the benefit of buyback may be less for investors in the tax bracket of 30 percent or more, because the tax on premium will be higher. On the other hand, this opportunity can prove to give additional returns for investors in lower tax slabs.
What is the benefit to those who do not participate in buyback?
Overall, this step of Infosys is special in many ways. The company is currently going through a period of change. Revenues are stable, margins do not see huge growth and demand in the sector is also cyclical at times. In such an environment, through buyback, the company is trying to improve its earnings per share (EPS) and return on equity (ROE) in the long run by reducing the number of its shares. Because of this, even investors who do not participate in buybacks may get indirect benefits in the long run.
