Infosys to buy Progeon staff shares
Infosys Technologies has announced a Rs 76 crore buyback plan for employees who hold shares of the erstwhile Progeon – now Infosys BPO.
The buyback has been necessitated after Infosys bought out the Citigroup stake in the BPO arm in April 2006 in a deal that valued Citi’s 23% stake at Rs 518 crore. Citi had invested $20 million in 2002 to acquire 8.75 million shares.
According to information available, there are around 100 employees of Infosys BPO who had stock options that have since been vested into 11.66 lakh shares. Infosys has offered a price of Rs 604 per share, the same price at which Infosys bought out Citi. This will mean that Infosys will be paying out Rs 76 crore to the employees.
According to an Infosys official, the company will next work out ways to compensate another 150 Infosys BPO employees who have options that have not been vested into shares. "The first stage is to complete this buyback by December 26, and then move to the next stage," the official said.
Infosys BPO currently employs close to 10,000, and has a topline of around $102 million with operating margins at 23%.
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