NEW DELHI, APRIL 27: Information Technology major Wipro Ltd today moved the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) for the largest ever American Depository Receipts (ADR) by any company with a size of $ 500 million.When contacted a top official of the company in Bangalore said Wipro has filed the required application with the FIPB as a first move in this direction consequent to the board's decision yesterday.The FIPB application has kept the option for Global Depository Receipts (GDR) also. The company official said the provision of GDR has been incorporated in the application as a procedure, but the company has decied that it would be a $ 500 million ADR.Wipro's float becomes the largest ADR issue by any Indian company pushing the Dishent's $ 300 million float cleared by FIPB early this year to the second slot.Wipro chairman Azim Premji had announced yesterday the decsion of the company to float the ADR and said the time frame for the issue has not yet been finalised. The Board of Directors of the company had approved the ADR float only yesterday.Althoug the company had announced the decision for ADRfloat last month, of late there was second thought among the top managment on the timing of the issue because of the falling sentiments on technology stocks globally, especially in the US bourses and NASDAQ.But the Board of Directors which met N Wednesday inBangalore to consider the results, gave the go-ahead for the ADR plan after assessing that the time had come for the company to go global.Wipro's share had dropped nearly 60 per cent from itspeak of Rs. 9,800 on February 22 after its skyrocketted 276.8 per cent from Rs. 2,600 on December 30,1999. The share ended at Rs. 3,935 on the Mumbai Stock Exchange on Wednesday, a rise of Rs. 199 from Tuesday's closing.The company had announced a 121 per cent growth in netprofit at Rs. 248.30 crore from its last year profit of Rs. 112.10 crore.On the lack of liquidity of Wipro stock due to Premji's75 per cent holding, he commented that it was not correct for analysts to say so. "You must appreciate that our market capitalisation today is about 22 billion dollar. Even if you see the float as 15 or 20 per cent of that, your are talking of a float in excess of four billion dollar", he added.
