Infosys founders seeking $1.1 bn via stake sale: Source

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Some of the founders of Infosys Ltd want to sell shares for $1.1 billion in the Indian IT outsourcing company, a person familiar with the matter said, months after the company picked its first outsider as chief executive officer.

Four of the original founders, co-founders and their families are offering 32.6 million shares in Infosys at a fixed price of 1,988 Indian rupees ($32) each, a 4 percent discount to Friday’s close, the person said.

Deutsche Bank is the sole book runner of the sale and the books were covered just after the launch, said Thomson Reuters publication IFR. It named the founders as Narayana Murthy, Nandan Nilekani, S.D. Shibulal and K. Dinesh.

The person declined to be named as the matter remained confidential and Infosys executives were not immediately available for comment.

Infosys, established by seven engineers in 1981, chose Vishal Sikka as its CEO in June in a bid to overhaul a company that was once the posterchild of India’s $100-plus billion IT services industry but which had in recent years scrambled against rivals for low-margin contracts.

Some investor said Infosys failed to move up the value-chain due to its risk averse management team which was largely comprised of the company’s founders and co-founders.

Most of these executives have left the company since Sikka took office in August.

The founders and their families held a combined 91.5 million shares, or nearly 8 percent of Infosys’ outstanding shares, according to the company’s annual report.

Infosys shares are up 18.8 percent so far this year, while the benchmark Indian share index is up about 35.4 percent.

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