Infosys' shares end nearly 5% down as founders sell shares

A total 32.3 million shares representing 2.8% of total equity of Infosys changed hands in multiple block deals in early morning trade.

Shares of IT services major Infosys fell nearly 5 per cent on Monday, wiping out Rs 11,611 crore (Rs 116.11 billion) from its market valuation, after its co-founders N R Narayana Murthy and Nandan Nilekani along with their family members, sold shares worth Rs 6,484 crore (Rs 64.84 billion).

The company's scrip plunged 4.88 per cent to end the day at Rs 1,968.60 on the BSE. During the day, it lost 5.37 per cent to Rs 1,958.50.

At the NSE, shares of Infosys slipped 4.75 per cent to settle at Rs 1,972.

Led by decline in the stock, the company's market value dipped by Rs 11,611.06 crore to Rs 2,26,088.26 crore (Rs 2,260.88 billion).

The stock was the biggest loser among the blue-chips on both Sensex and Nifty.

"IT major Infosys slipped more than 5 per cent as markets observed almost 3.3 crore shares in small blocks sold on the markets which participants believe is sold off by the founders for philanthropic reasons," said Rakesh Goyal, Senior Vice President, Bonanza Portfolio Ltd.

"Some of the founders of Infosys, including Narayana Murthy, Nandan Nilekani and Dinesh K and some of their family members as well as wife of co-founder S D Shibulal have announced that they have sold 32.6 million shares of Infosys for approximately Rs 6,484 crore (Rs 64.84 billion)," a statement issued by Deutsche Equities India said.

The sale was executed by Deutsche Equities India at an average price of Rs 1,988.87.

This constitutes about 2.8 per cent of shares outstanding, it added.

The sale has been done to partially monetise their stake, after more than three decades of setting up the company.

Some portion of the proceeds will also be used by the founders towards philanthropic activities.

Murthy and family sold 12 million shares (23.3 per cent of their holding), Nilekani and family 12 million shares (31.3 per cent of their holding), Dinesh and family 6.2 million shares (21.5 per cent of their holding) and Kumari Shibulal 2.4 million shares (9.6 per cent of their holding).

Meanwhile, weakness was also seen in other IT stocks as TCS lost 2.51 per cent, Wipro fell by 1.62 per cent and HCL Tech was down by 2.06 per cent on the BSE.

The BSE IT index fell by 3.18 per cent to settle at 10,512.34.