Infosys bites back over Panaya purchase allegations
Dr. Vishal Sikka, CEO of Infosys
Infosys is fighting back over allegations made by an anonymous whistleblower that its $200 million acquisition of Israeli firm Panaya was a big old mess.
The whistleblower says in an email that Infosys’ acquisition price in February 2015 was over the odds, as the company had been valued at $162 million by Israel Growth Partners. This latter firm made a $20 million investment to pick up a 12.31% stake.
The email also claims that former Infosys CFO Rajiv Bansal walked out of a meeting to approve the purchase. It is claimed he believed the acquisition was not thought out properly and would not offer much by way of value.
In response to a new round of chatter, Infosys says: “We categorically state that no member of the Infosys management team was involved in any prior investments in Panaya, and insinuations that anyone from the management team at Infosys benefitted from this acquisition are misleading and slanderous.”
It adds that “assertions made in the letter are libellous and are aimed at tarnishing the image of Infosys and its management”.
According to Infosys, the valuation for the Panaya deal was done by Deutsche Bank, the financial and tax due diligence was done by one of the “big four firms” and legal diligence was done by law firm Kirkland & Ellis.
Infosys also aims to quell talk over any associations with SAP. It says “the fact that Dr. Hasso Plattner [co-founder of SAP] was an investor in Panaya is public knowledge and the board was well aware of the same, as well as of Dr. Vishal Sikka’s association with SAP”. Sikka is CEO and MD of Infosys. Prior to joining Infosys, he was a member of the executive board of SAP.
Infosys says: “There is absolutely no conflict of interest due to Dr. Sikka’s past professional association with Dr. Plattner.”
We’ll keep you informed about what happens.
