Wipro has set June 5, 2026 as the record date for its ₹15,000 crore ($1.8 billion) share repurchase program, the company's largest capital return in its 78-year history. The tender offer price of ₹250 per share represents a 17.8% premium to the April 16 board approval date closing price and targets 5.72% of outstanding equity.
The buyback comes seven quarters into Wipro's attempt to close the margin gap with Infosys and TCS. Operating margins have compressed 240 basis points since Q3 FY2024 as the company absorbs elevated fresher hiring costs and bench expenses during the North American discretionary spending drought. Management approved the program on April 16 with promoter participation confirmed but not quantified in public filings. The ₹250 price sits 8.2% above the six-month volume-weighted average and 22.1% below the February 2025 twelve-month high of ₹321.
This is the third buyback since 2019 and the first to exceed ₹10,000 crore. Previous programs in 2019 (₹10,500 crore) and 2021 (₹9,500 crore) returned capital during margin expansion cycles. The current deployment comes as free cash flow generation remains strong at ₹8,240 crore in the nine months ending December 2025, but revenue growth trails peers. Wipro's FY2025 organic growth is tracking 2.1% in constant currency terms versus 4.8% for the BSE IT Index weighted average.
The record date mechanism matters for cross-border allocators. Shareholders holding equity on June 5 will receive tender rights, but settlement cycles mean beneficial owners must hold shares by June 3 close to clear the depository participant chain. The tender window typically opens 15 business days after the record date, placing the acceptance period in late June with fund disbursement in mid-July. This timing intersects with Q1 FY2027 earnings, expected in the third week of July, creating a natural valuation checkpoint.
Operators should watch three data points. First, the promoter tendering proportion, which will surface in the offer document within 10 business days of the record date and indicates founder conviction in the ₹250 floor. Second, the oversubscription ratio, which if below 1.2x suggests institutional comfort with the valuation reset. Third, the June 25-30 ADR arbitrage spread, which should compress to under 2.5% if U.S. institutional interest firms.
The company holds ₹42,800 crore in cash and marketable securities as of December 2025. Post-buyback, the balance sheet will carry ₹27,800 crore in net cash, maintaining a 19.2% cash-to-market-cap ratio—still above the 15.8% sector median but no longer an outlier. The per-share accretion is mechanical: 3.1 rupees in FY2027 EPS assuming stable net income, or 6.2% lift to reported earnings absent operational improvement.