Reliance Infrastructure has announced a program of buy-back of equity shares for an aggregate amount of upto Rs. 700 crore (USD 143 million), as approved by shareholders of the company. The buy-back program, subject to compliace with the applicable regulations of SEBI, will remain open up to mid April 2009.

The buy-back would be made upto a maximum price of Rs 700 per share, a premium of about 27%to current market price.

The company will buy-back shares on the Bombay Stock Exchange limited (BSE) and National Stock Exchange limited (NSE), through a transparent mechanism of open market purchases, from time to time.

Company as specified that the proposed buy-back is expected to lead to the following benefits:

-          Reduction in the outstanding number of equity shares, and consequently, an increase in Earning Per Share (EPS).

-          Improvement in Return on Net worth and other financial ratios.

-          Positive impact on the Company’s stock price, contributing to maximization of overall shareholder value.

The company recently closed the first phase of buy-back program in which the company bought-back 87.60 lakh equity shares of Rs 796 crore, as approved by the Board fo the company. This is the largest ever buy-back by any corporate in the country till date.