Promoters to participate in TCS' buyback offer

India's largest IT services company Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) on Friday said its promoters intend to participate in its recently announced buyback offer of up to Rs 16,000 crore.

Earlier this month, the TCS board had approved a proposal to buy back up to 7.61 crore shares or 1.99 per cent of the total paid-up equity share capital at Rs 2,100 a share.

Last year too, TCS had undertaken a buyback offer of a similar size.

"In terms of the Sebi Buyback Regulations, under tender offer route, the promoters have the option to participate in the buyback. We would like to inform you that the promoter and promoter group of the company have communicated their intention to participate in the proposed buyback," TCS said in a BSE filing on Friday.

The buyback is subject to approval of the members by means of a special resolution through a postal ballot, it added.

TCS said a public announcement setting out the process, timelines and other details will be released in due course in line with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) norms.

At the company's 50th annual general meeting in June this year, TCS Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Rajesh Gopinathan had said the capital allocation policy is paramount to the company.

"We've always believed in rewarding the shareholders. We've steadily increased our payout to shareholders and now we are at the upper end of the band of 80-100% band," he had said.

Gopinathan had further said since the listing in 2004, TCS has returned 60% of the total cash flows or Rs 98,192 crore to the shareholders either through dividend payouts or share buybacks and only 4% or Rs 4,420 crore has been used for acquisitions.

During the buyback last year, Tata Sons - the holding company of salt-to-software Tata Group - had made over Rs 10,278 crore by tendering over 3.60 crore shares at Rs 2,850 per equity share. These shares accounted for 64.2% of the total shares bought back by TCS in 2017's buyback offer.

Other large investors who had participated that time included the Government of Singapore, Copthall Mauritius Investments and EuroPacific Growth Fund.