Infosys' Vishal Sikka says founders fully committed to the company

Infosys CEO Vishal Sikka today said the founders of India’s second largest IT services firm Infosys still remain committed to the firm and the sold stock will be used for philanthropic purposes.

Earlier this week, co-founders N R Narayana Murthy and Nandan Nilekani along with their family members sold Infosys shares worth Rs 6,484 crore.

Following the sale, shares of the Bangalore-based firm fell nearly 5 percent, wiping out Rs 11,611 crore from its market valuation.

“It was long overdue, I think it was part of a portfolio decision. The vast majority of their holdings are still there, and they are still among the largest shareholders of the company,” Sikka, the first non-founder and outsider to lead Infosys, said in an interview to CNBC.

The sale included 32.6 million shares of Infosys.

“They are fully committed to the management, to the company – it’s all good,” Sikka further added.

Infosys shares today closed marginally lower at Rs 1,963.70 from the previous close on the BSE.

The sale was been done to partially monetise their stake, after more than three decades of setting up the company. Some portion of the proceeds will also be used by the founders towards philanthropic activities.

“One key thing that people don’t know about Infosys is the massive influence that Infosys has with regard towards philanthropy. Infosys Foundation, still headed by Mrs Murthy, wife our founder. Its a huge activity for us. It (the sale) was part of philanthropic, giving, entrepreneurship. This was the reason for the sale,” he said.

Murthy and family sold 12 million shares (23.3 percent of their holding), Nilekani and family 12 million shares (31.3 percent of their holding), Dinesh and family 6.2 million shares (21.5 percent of their holding) and Kumari Shibulal 2.4 million shares (9.6 percent of their holding).

PTI