Amid the potential takeover of the company by L&T, Mindtree’s board Wednesday agreed to pay a special dividend to its shareholders, including promoters, that along with regular dividend and tax components would strip the mid-sized IT firm of about Rs 530 crore.
The company has declared an interim dividend of Rs 3 per share that will be paid before May 10 and also pay Rs 4 a share in final dividend, besides Rs 20 in special dividend — a proposal subject to shareholders’ nod at the firm’s annual general meeting (AGM) in June or July.
By June or July, Larsen and Toubro (L&T) could hold significant stake in the city-based company.
Previously, L&T had acquired Cafe Coffee Day owner V G Siddhartha’s 20.32 per cent stake in Mindtree, and placed an order with brokers to pick up another 15 per cent shares from the open market.
This set off an open offer under which the infrastructure major will acquire an additional 31 per cent stake at Rs 980 a share. The open offer is slated to begin on May 14 and close on May 27.
When asked if Mindtree anticipated any objection from L&T on its latest move, the Mindtree CEO said they had no idea.
When the scheduled AGM will take place, all shareholders will get a chance to vote.The CEO said Mindtree policies are user friendly. They have promised to return excess cash back to shareholders, which is what their capital allocation policy says.
In a statement earlier on April 17, Mindtree said the special dividend has been recommended to celebrate the twin achievements of exceeding $1 billion annual revenue milestone and 20th anniversary of the company.
He added that Mindtree has delivered exceptional performance for both the fourth quarter and the full fiscal year as they cross the historic $1 billion milestone.
The mid-sized IT firm on April 17 reported an 8.9 percent growth in consolidated net profit at Rs 198.4 crore for the March 2019 quarter.
Mindtree’s FY19 net profit grew 32.2 percent to Rs 754.1 crore, while revenue was up 28.5 percent to Rs 7,021.5 crore from the previous fiscal.
