Big private equity giant Blackstone made a bid on Thursday night to buy a "significant minority" stake in Infosys amid hectic transitioning taking place within the company, according to the Financial Express (FE), which cited a report by television channel CNBC TV 18.
While the company board on Thursday debated the impending return of co-founder Nandan Nilekani to steady its top echelons after the stunning exit of Vishal Sikka as CEO and MD following a prolonged tiff with the founders, private equity firm Blackstone was moving ahead with what it thought was some timely investment plans.
FE cited the television news channel as reporting that the Blackstone proposal was raised at the Infosys board meeting held on Thursday night to decide the board's future course of action and appointment of a new chairman.
However, the board rejected Blackstone's acquisition offer, and instead, moved on to appoint Nandan Nilekani as the new non-executive Chairman, effectively vesting the control of the company with the founder group, FE reported.
Global private equity giant Blackstone offered to buy a "significant minority" stake in Infosys, in order to buy out the firm in the wake of the tussle between the founders of the company and its board, CNBC TV18 reported, citing unidentified sources.
Sources told Financial Express that Nilekani joined after the resignations of ex-chief executive Vishal Sikka, and two other members of the board Jeffrey Lehman and John Etchemendy, were accepted. Seshasayee also stepped down as board chairman.
Vishal Sikka, who was appointed as executive vice-chairman following his resignation as the CEO, has made a complete exit from the company.
The tussle between Infosys lead founder N R Narayana Murthy and the company board had threatened to destabilise operations at the Bengaluru-headquartered firm. Ravi Venkatesan, who was co-chairman, will stay on as director while UB Pravin Rao will continue as interim CEO and MD.
The return of Nilekani, a former CEO, is expected to assuage the concerns of shareholders, at least in the near term, the FE report said. Since Vishal Sikka stepped down as MD and CEO on August 18, the Infosys stock has lost more than Rs 30,000 crore in market capitalisation.
