An independent probe by a US law firm has cleared Infosys and its CEO Vishal Sikka of allegations of personal gains during the IT firm's deal with Israeli software firm Panaya. The details of the investigation carried out by law firm Gibson Dunn & Crutcher, LLP, and the findings were released on Friday, June 24.
The issue came up on February 21 and 22, 2017, when the Securities Exchange Board of India (Sebi) received two anonymous complaints alleging that Sikka had made personal gains during the acquisition of Panaya and also said that the company CEO had used company resources for personal purposes.
The letter also said the differences in the deal has led to the exit of the firm's then chief financial officer Rajiv Bansal, who was offered a severance package of Rs 17 crore.
However, Gibson Dunn & Crutcher has now said that there is no evidence to prove that the allegations made by the whistleblower were true. "We found no evidence supporting the whistleblower's allegations regarding the acquisitions – there were no conflicts of interest or kickbacks, required approvals for the acquisitions were obtained, thorough due diligence was conducted, the valuations of the target companies done by an outside financial advisor were reasonable, and the purchase prices were within the range of values determined by that advisor," the law firm said in a statement.
Additionally, Gibson Dunn & Crutcher also said: "We found no evidence of inappropriate contracting. We found no evidence that the Mergers and Acquisitions team failed to obtain appropriate approvals. We found no evidence that the CEO received excessive variable compensation or incurred unreasonable expenses for security, travel and the Palo Alto office."
The Indian IT giant acquired Panaya in February 2015 in a deal pegged at $200 million and the clean chit for Sikka comes a day before Infosys' annual general meeting on Saturday, June 24.
