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Wipro ADR to raise $150-300 m.

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CIOL Bureau
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BANGALORE: India's diversified information technology firm Wipro Ltd. will

make an American Depository Receipts (ADR) issue of $150-$300 million, its

chairman Azim Premji said.

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"We have taken permission for an ADR of two per cent of our paid up

capital... it will be a reasonable size, somewhere between $150 million and $300

million which is not large by any standard," Premji told Reuters in an

interview over the weekend.

Premji said he could not give details of when exactly Wipro would tap the US

capital markets but said it should happen before the middle of November.

The Indian cabinet two weeks ago approved Wipro's plan to issue ADRs or

Global Depository Receipts (GDRs) to raise up to $500 million.

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Wipro also proposes to issue employee stock options linked to the ADR/GDRs up

to a maximum of $150 million, the government had said.

The firm's vice chairman Vivek Paul in July told Reuters Wipro was more

likely to list on the New York Stock Exchange rather than the tech-laden Nasdaq

exchange.

"Our advise was to stay off August. September is generally a good month.

October is a good month. The first half of November is a good month. People say

stop after the 15th of November," Premji said.

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He said it was not considered a good time to make an ADR issue between

mid-November and early January due to the Christmas and New Year holiday season

in the United States.

"I don't think we are terribly paranoid about getting the timing

perfect," said Premji, who was last year declared the richest Indian by Forbes

magazine for the 75 per cent of Wipro he owns.

"When we do the issue, the price needs to be something in a band that is

generally acceptable. It is not too important that you do it at two-and-a-half

thousand rupees a share or you do it at three-and-a-half thousand rupees a

share," Premji said.

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"I go on the basis of the whole process of the book building etcetera,

which gives you a fair idea of (what) the investment the public is willing to

pay for the share."

At the Bombay Stock Exchange, the Wipro share on Friday ended at Rs 2,928.25,

down nearly eight per cent from its previous close.

(C) Reuters Limited 2000.

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