Sold Infosys stake to encourage entrepreneurship, philanthropy: NR Narayana Murthy

MUMBAI: As a stake sale by the founders of Infosys led to nearly 5 per cent fall in the share price and created a lot of buzz among market participants, NR Narayana Murthy (NRN), one of the founders of the company, has clarified on the issue.

Speaking exclusively to Chandra R Srikanth of ET NOW, NRN said that the funds raised through the stake sale will be used for various activities to encourage entrepreneurship and personal philanthropic efforts.

"Our family has sold a minor part of our stake to continue various activities, including our efforts to encourage entrepreneurship and our personal philanthropic efforts. These are activities that I expect to be busy with during the next phase of my life," NRN told ET Now.

"Even after this sale, our family continues to be the largest shareholder among retail shareholders. We have tremendous confidence in the future of Infosys and its leaders," he added.

NRN, Nandan Nilekani, K Dinesh and SD Shibulal have offloaded 5-and-a-half per cent stake via 16 block deals through Deutsche Bank. Sharse of Infosys plunged over 3 per cent after founders sold over 3 crore shares at a base price of Rs 1,988 per share, a 4 per cent discount to Friday's closing price.