Infoys founders sell $1bn in stock

Four founders of Infosys are selling shares of India's second-largest software services company in transactions said to be valued at about 65 billion rupees ($1 billion).

N.R. Narayana Murthy, S.D. Shibulal, K. Dinesh and Nandan M. Nilekani and their families cut their holdings, according to filings by the Bengaluru, India-based company today.

The founders are understood to selling 32.6 million shares at about 1,988 rupees apiece. The shares sales come about four months after Vishal Sikka took over as chief executive officer in August to become the first non-founder to lead Infosys since it was established in 1981. The former SAP AG executive is trying to boost profit margins and revive sales growth that lags behind its four nearest domestic rivals.

Infosys is trying to win contracts in an environment where companies want mobile applications to interact with consumers and rent shared computing services rather than maintain their own servers. Sikka has been meeting customers and employees as part of efforts to boost sales at Infosys.

Deutsche Bank is the sole adviser on the sale, the person familiar with the matter said. Sarah Gideon, a spokeswoman for Bengaluru, India-based company, declined to comment on the share sales.

Shares of Infosys fell 3.4 per cent to 2,000 rupees as of 11:29 a.m. in Mumbai. About 2.8 per cent of the company’s shares changed hands today, according to data compiled by Bloomberg that doesn’t immediately identify buyers or sellers.

Infosys has seven founders and more than 161,000 employees, according to its website. In October, Infosys shares surged to a record after the company said it would issue stock as a dividend to shareholders and posted profit that beat analyst estimates.

Bloomberg