A defiant Infosys Founder NR Narayana Murthy will interact with investors on Wednesday through a conference call to tell his version of the software major’s boardroom battles that led to the exit of its technocrat Vishal Sikka as CEO on last Friday.
“Murthy will address and interact with the company’s investors across the world on Wednesday evening at 6:30 p.m. through a conference call we are hosting,” said the Indian arm of the global asset management group Investec in a statement from Mumbai on Tuesday night.
Investors from Britain, Hong Kong, India, Singapore and the US can join the con-call by pre-registering with the facilitator and dialling the given numbers.
Though the 70-year-old Murthy declined to respond to the company’s Board charge that his continuous attacks led to Sikka’s exit, he decided to explain his stand on the tussle to restore investors’ confidence in the iconic IT major.
“I have read the statement issued by the Infosys Board of Directors. I am anguished by the allegations, tone and tenor of its statements,” said Murthy in an e-mail to the media on Friday, adding it was below his dignity to respond to such insinuations.
The promoters group, led by Murthy, holds 12.92 per cent of the equity shares, Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) and Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) 37.33 per cent, Indian retail, corporate and other investors 23.08 per cent, Indian FIs, Banks and Mutual Funds 9.63 per cent, American Depository Receipts (ADRs) 16.69 per cent and Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) 0.52 per cent.
Following Sikka’s abrupt exit as the firm’s first non-founder executive, the company’s shares of Rs 5 face value took a heavy toll, losing 15 per cent since Friday and slipped to 11th from BSE’s top 10 most valued firms, with its market capitalisation declining a whopping Rs 33,912 crore to Rs 2,01,479 crore from Rs 235,390 crore in the last three trading days since August 18.
The Board’s announcement on Saturday to buy back 11.3-crore shares at Rs.1,150 each worth Rs.13,000 crore ($2 billion) failed to halt the slide.
“Murthy is likely to bare all, explaining his stand to analysts on the values, culture, transparency and corporate governance with which he built the company over three decades till he stepped down in 2014,” said a source familiar with the events and developments in the company.