Wipro's Rs 15,000 crore buyback opens tomorrow: 10 key things to know before tendering shares

The much-awaited share buyback worth around Rs 15,000 crore of IT major Wipro is set to open on June 11 and close on June 17. The company shared the letter of offer on Tuesday, sharing details such as the entitlement ratio and more for investors. Here are 10 key things investors planning to participate in the share buyback must know before tendering their shares.

Buyback of shares refers to a corporate action where a company repurchases its own shares from the existing shareholders. Usually, the company purchases the shares at a higher price than the current levels, encouraging investors to participate. Typically, a company decides to buy back its shares in order to increase share value, utilise surplus cash, prevent hostile takeovers or increase promoter holdings.

Wipro earlier in April had announced a share buyback at Rs 250 per share, offering a 38% premium over previous closing price of nearly Rs 181.67 apiece on NSE. The share buyback marks the first such action announced by the IT major in nearly three years. The company’s board approved the plan to buy back up to 60 crore shares, representing 5.7% of the total paid-up share capital, for an aggregate amount not exceeding Rs 15,000 crore.

The buyback will be done via the tender route, and all shareholders who held shares of the company as on the record date of June 5, including those who received the equity shares after cancelling their American Depository Receipts (ADR), will be eligible to take part in the corporate action. Hence, if any investor is planning to take fresh positions in Wipro now, she won’t be able to participate as the stock is already trading ex-record date.

Wipro has reserved 15% of the buyback size, or 9 crore shares for small shareholders. The number of shares entitled as per their shareholding on the record date stands at 2.61 crore shares. Accordingly, general category for all other eligible shareholders shall consist of 51 crore equity shares.

Under Wipro's buyback offer, eligible shareholders in the reserved category for small shareholders are entitled to tender 11 equity shares for every 56 equity shares held as of the record date. For shareholders falling under the general category, the buyback entitlement has been fixed at 10 equity shares for every 197 equity shares held on the record date, the company said in a regulatory filing

Wipro shareholders can participate in the share buyback by placing a bid through a stock broker registered either with the BSE or the NSE via a separate window that would open up on the stock exchanges. The registrar will complete the verification of tendered shares by June 19, 2026. Thereafter, the final acceptance or rejection of shares tendered under the buyback will be communicated to the stock exchanges by June 23. The payment will be made to the eligible shareholders by June 24.

After the buyback, Wipro will return the unaccepted shares by June 24, as per the schedule shared by the IT giant in its exchange filing. “Eligible Shareholders must ensure that their demat account(s) is active and unblocked for receipt of unaccepted shares and that their bank account is linked with their demat account for credit of remittance on acceptance of equity shares under the buyback,” the company said.

Given Wipro’s track record of outperformance and the prospect of stable returns amidst current market volatility, HDFC Securities had expected the acceptance ratio to remain significantly higher. “Consequently, we recommend a tactical "Buy" for retail investors looking to optimise short-term capital allocation by participating in the offer,” it added. Motilal Oswal Wealth Management also expected the acceptance ratio to remain high.

Wipro has said that its promoters and promoter groups have indicated their intention to participate in the buyback. They can tender a maximum of 745 crore shares. “Assuming acceptance of all equity shares tendered in the buyback from the eligible shareholders up to their respective buyback entitlement, the shareholding of the promoter and promoter group after the completion of the buyback may increase from 72.53% to 73.01% of the post-buyback total paid-up equity share capital of the company,” it added.

Wipro shares have fallen more than 13% in one week and 8% in one month. The shares of the company are down nearly 32% in 2026 so far, closing at Rs 181.67 apiece on Tuesday. The stock has delivered negative returns of nearly 28% over one year, 8% in three years and 33% over five years. The company has a market capitalisation of more than Rs 1.91 lakh crore.
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