Wipro Limited – Tender Offer

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SUMMARY
POTENTIAL BUYBACK ANNOUNCEMENT
On July 14, 2017, Wipro Limited (BSE:507685) announced that it intends to initiate an equity buyback on July 20, 2017. The Company’s Board of Directors will consider a share repurchase program under which, the company will buyback its own shares.

Share Price = INR 259.50

At the time of potential buyback announcement, the terms of buyback i.e. mode of buyback (tender offer vs. open market repurchase), buyback price and size of buyback are unknown. However, we note that Wipro Limited purchased shares through tender offer route 1 time in the past, so likelihood of a tender offer is higher.

TENDER OFFER ANNOUNCEMENT
On July 20, 2017, Wipro Limited (BSE:507685) announced a tender offer to buyback 343.75 million shares at a buyback price of INR 320.00 per share. This represents a spread of 19.0% over the market price of INR 269.00 per share, as of the announcement date. The proposed buyback shares represents 7.06% of the total outstanding shares of 4838.95 million. Given SEBI’s rule of preference to small shareholders who own less than INR 2 lakh worth of shares of the Company, approximately 51.56 million shares are reserved for small shareholders, which represents 15% of the proposed buyback.

Features – Tender Offer – Fixed Price
Share Price = INR 269.00
Buyback Price = INR 320.00
Spread = 19.0%
Buyback Size = 7.1% or 343.75 million shares

RECORD DATE ANNOUNCEMENT
The Company has fixed the record date of September 15, 2017 for the purpose of determining the entitlement and the names of equity shareholders who are eligible to participate in the buyback.

BUYBACK DATES ANNOUNCEMENT
The Company has announced the buyback open and close dates to participate in this tender offer. The buyback window for putting instructions opens on November 29, 2017 and closes on December 13, 2017.

RISK-REWARD ANALYSIS
ANALYSIS AS OF TENDER OFFER ANNOUNCEMENT DATE
Share Price = INR 269.00

Based on our research and analysis, the acceptance rate of this tender offer for small shareholders is expected to fall in the 85%-100% range. At the current price level, this represents an expected return between 16.1% and 19.0%. If the share price drops by 5%, the expected return would be between 15.4% and 19.0%. If the share price increases by 5%, the expected return would be between 16.9% and 19.0%. At 100% acceptance rate, the maximum return would be around 19.0%.
Based on the above risk-reward ratio analysis, Wipro Limited tender offer appears to be an attractive low-risk arbitrage opportunity for small shareholders.

CONCLUSION = INVEST

ANALYSIS AS OF 3 DAYS PRIOR TO RECORD DATE
Share Price = INR 298.25

At the current price level and above mentioned acceptance rates, an expected return is between 6.2% and 7.3%. If the share price drops by 5%, the expected return would be between 5.4% and 7.3%. If the share price increases by 5%, the expected return would be between 6.9% and 7.3%. At 100% acceptance rate, the maximum return would be around 7.3%.
Based on the above risk-reward ratio analysis, Wipro Limited tender offer continue to appear to be an attractive low-risk arbitrage opportunity for small shareholders.

CONCLUSION = STAY INVESTED

ANALYSIS AS OF BUYBACK OPEN DATE
Share Price = INR 297.90

At the current price level and above mentioned acceptance rates, an expected return is between 6.3% and 7.4%. If the share price drops by 5%, the expected return would be between 5.6% and 7.4%. If the share price increases by 5%, the expected return would be between 7.1% and 7.4%.
Based on the above risk-reward ratio analysis, Wipro Limited tender offer continue to appear to be an attractive low-risk arbitrage opportunity for small shareholders.

CONCLUSION = PARTICIPATE

POST-BUYBACK ANNOUNCEMENT & RESULT
On December 13, 2017, Wipro Limited (BSE:507685) announced the final results of the buyback. A total of 51.94 million shares were tendered by small shareholders, out of which 51.56 million shares were accepted. Therefore, the actual acceptance rate for small shareholders turned out to be approximately 99%. The share price increased by 6.8% since the tender offer announcement, which includes 6.2% increase between the tender offer announcement and record date, and 0.5% increase between the record date and closing date.

Share Price = INR 287.20

Given we decided to INVEST at the time of tender offer announcement, decided to STAY INVESTED at the time of record date and decided to PARTICIPATE at the time of buyback open date, the net realized return was 18.9% over a span of 146 days, which is equivalent to an annualized return of 54.1%.

RESULT = PROFIT
RETURN = 18.9%
DURATION = 146 days
ANNUALIZED IRR = 54.1%

REFERENCE LINKS/FILINGS

Tender Offer Announcement
Record Date Announcement
Buyback Dates Announcement
Post Buyback Announcement

DISCLAIMER & DISCLOSURE
The above post/article should not be considered as a stock recommendation or trading/investing advice in any way. The stock analysis is based on the information publicly available to author, however readers should check the original source of information. Various factors, including personal ownership, may influence or factor into a stock analysis or opinion. At the time of writing this post author may have a financial interest or ownership in the discussed stock or initiate a position anytime in future.