Asia, Europe lap up Infy

A Tale of Two ADRs

Infosys' second sponsored American Depository Receipts (ADR) issue is being lapped up in Asia and Europe. The sponsored ADR opened on May 9.

According to merchant banking sources, the issue got subscribed two times over in Asia and over one time in Europe. The road shows for the US markets are currently on, sources added.

Infosys proposed to convert two-three million domestic shares into ADRs. One equity share is equivalent to two ADRs.

On the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), Infosys Technologies stock rallied from its intra-day low Rs 2,075 to finally close 2.09 per cent higher at Rs 2,142.45.

The counter witnessed impressive volumes of more than 3.75 lakh shares on the BSE.

The Infosys ADR closed at $ 65.63 on the Nasdaq on Thursday. This translates into 35.8 per cent premium over yesterday's closing price of Rs 2,099.50 on the BSE.

A key aspect of the second sponsored ADR issue is the public offer without listing (POWL) in Japan.

This essentially means that without listing, the Infosys stock can be traded and held by Japanese institutions and retail investors.