Three co-founders of Infosys and their family members, on Monday, sold around 32.6 million shares, raising a whopping Rs.6,484 crore.
The transaction was carried out as a block deal in the open market, where 2.8 per cent of the total equity of Infosys changed hands on Monday morning trade.
The stake sale has happened months after the appointment of non-founder and outsider Vishal Sikka as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO).
Infosys shares have been up 21.4 per cent since the beginning of the year, and went up by 8.9 per cent in the last two months.
Infosys founders N. R. Narayana Murthy, Nandan Nilekani and K. Dinesh and family members, including Deeksha Dinesh, Asha Dinesh, Akshata Murthy, Sudha Murthy, Rohini Nilekani, Divya Dinesh and S. D Shibulal’s wife Kumari Shibulal, sold their holdings in the IT company. Infosys has not made any official statement on the stake sale.
The sale was executed by Deutsche Equities, which was the sole broker for the deal. The sale was executed at an average price of Rs.1,988.87, 4 per cent discounted rate on Friday’s closing price.
“The shares were sold to institutional investors, both FIIs and domestic,” Deutsche Equities said in a statement.
According to Deutsche Equities, Mr. Murthy and Mr. Nilekani sold around 12 million shares, while Ms. Dinesh and Ms. Shibulal sold 6.2 million shares and 2.4 million shares, respectively. As on September 30, 2014, the founders and family members hold 15.92 per cent stake in the company.
Commenting on the deal, Mr. Murthy said: “Our family has sold a minor part of our stake to continue various activities, including our efforts to encourage entrepreneurship and our personal philanthropic efforts. These are activities that I expect to be busy with during the next phase of my life.”
He also said, “Even after this sale, our family continues to be the largest shareholder among retail shareholders. We have tremendous confidence in the future of Infosys and its leaders.”
In statement, Mr. Nilekani, who holds the largest stake among the co-founders, said: “We have sold a part of our stake for personal reasons and to continue our philanthropic efforts.
“As you know, we have multiple philanthropic interests, including the one on improving learning outcomes for children.”
Rohini Nilekani, wife of Mr. Nilekani, runs a non-profit organisation Arghyam that focuses on water and sanitation issues.
Shares of Infosys slipped by 4.88 per cent to Rs.1,968.60 on Monday on the BSE.
