• Investment World
• eWorld
• Brand Line
• Mentor
• Life
• Brand Quest
• The New Manager
• BL Club
• Smartbuy
• Books
• Gallery

Stocks

• Quotes
• SE Diary
• Scoreboard
• Open-End Mutual Fund

Cross Currency

• Rates
  
  

Shipping

• Ports
  
  

Archives

• Yesterday
• Datewise
• Resources
• In Focus
• In Depth
• Events 2007

Group Sites

• The Hindu
• The Hindu ePaper
• Business Line
• Business Line ePaper
• Sportstar
• Frontline
• The Hindu eBooks
• The Hindu Images

Ms Sudha Murty

Our Bureau

Bangalore Nov. 5 Catamaran Investment Pvt Ltd, the venture capital fund floated by the Infosys Chairman and Chief Mentor, Mr N. R. Narayana Murthy, got a shot in the arm on Thursday after his wife Ms Sudha Murty pitched in with approximately Rs 430 crore.

Ms Murty raised the resources by selling some 20 lakh Infosys shares, or 0.34 per cent of the company’s equity. Post sale, her holding stands reduced to 73.14 lakh shares or 1.27 per cent of Infosys.

Simultaneously, on Thursday, the Infosys CEO and Managing Director, Mr S. Gopalakrishnan, increased his stake in the company to 1.16 per cent by picking up four lakh shares in the open market for over Rs 80 crore. Mr Gopalakrishnan now owns 66.56 lakh shares in Infosys. As on September 30, the promoters of Infosys and their family members owned 16.48 per cent stake in the company.

Informing Infosys of the change in his wife’s shareholding pattern, Mr Narayana Murthy said the proceeds of the sale would be used as corpus for the VC fund being set up in India to assist young entrepreneurs. The Murthys also said that they do not plan to raise further capital for the fund at present.

Mr Murthy recently raised Rs 170 crore by selling eight lakh shares of Infosys to start his VC fund. “I want to be a catalyst for entrepreneurship and the best way to do this is through starting a VC fund,” Mr Murthy had said.

Cataraman, which will become active in the next few months, will primarily invest in early-stage companies in India and across sectors. Mr Murthy will initially set up a team of three-four young individuals to be based in Bangalore to handle the VC fund, which would make indicative investments — look at people who are much more experienced and make investments along with them.

Ms Sudha Murty currently heads the Infosys Foundation, which works to support society’s underprivileged. It was her savings of Rs 10,000 that was instrumental in the founding of Infosys in 1981.

Known for her philanthropic work through the Infosys Foundation, Ms Murty has also initiated a move to provide all government schools in Karnataka with computer and library facilities. Ms Murty also teaches computer science and writes fiction.

More Stories on : Venture Capital | Stocks | People | Infosys Technologies Ltd | Software

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Copyright © 2009, The Hindu Business Line. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu Business Line