The Infosys brass is set to be richer by over Rs 1,500 crore (Rs 15 billion) by selling part of their holdings in the company's second sponsored American Depository Shares.
Infosys Technologies chairman and chief mentor N R Narayana Murthy, CEO and managing director Nandan Nilekani and a few other directors have collectively sold 51.64 lakh (5.16 million) shares, following which their holding in Infosys has gone down from 22.2 per cent to 20.29 per cent.
Capital gains tax will be applicable to this transaction. This means, a 10 per cent long-term capital gains tax will be applicable if they have been holding these shares for more than a year.
The price has been arrive at on the basis of Infosys' ADS price on May 23 ($68.75). Merchant banking sources said the Infosys ADR was trading at $68.75 on May 23, a premium of more than 38 per cent to the Indian share price today.
They, however, said there was no guarantee that the investors, who had tendered shares in India, would get this premium. The exact premium could be in the range of 18-22 per cent, they said.
Murthy has sold 15.51 lakh (1.55 million) shares, which can fetch him around Rs 464 crore {(Rs 4.64 billion) at an exchange rate of Rs 43.50 per dollar}. According to details filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Murthy's holding has come down to 6.01 per cent from 6.58 per cent.
Nilekani's stake is down from 4.57 per cent to 4.17 per cent. He has tendered 10.76 lakh (1.08 million) shares in the ADS which will fetch him about Rs 322 crore.
S Gopalakrishnan, COO of Infosys Technologies, has sold 10.42 shares and is set to make Rs 311 crore. His holding has now come down from 4.42 per cent to 4.04 per cent.
K Dinesh, director and head of education and research, has tendered 7.64 lakh shares (Rs 228 crore) while SD Shibulal, director and group head, worldwide customer delivery, has tendered 6.88 lakh shares (Rs 205 crore).
Dinesh's holding has come down from 3.24 per cent to 2.96 per cent while Shibulal now holds 2.67 per cent, down from 2.92 per cent.
The sponsored ADS opened on May 9 and closed on May 19. One equity share was equivalent to two ADS. Merrill Lynch, Saloman Smith Barney and Goldman Sachs are the three global book runners for the Infosys-sponsored ADR.
In July 2003, Infosys had its first sponsored ADS. The company had converted three million local shares into ADRs at $49 per share.
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