Infosys Appoints 4 New Directors; Shortens Co Name

Four new directors have been appointed to the board of directors of the $6.5 billion IT software export behemoth Infosys Ltd (previously Infosys Technologies Ltd).

Infosys announced today a change in the name of the Company from Infosys Technologies Limited to Infosys Limited. The change of name and its new tagline 'Building Tomorrow's Enterprise' is part of the company's attempt to project itself as a consulting firm. For more on it, read Business Standard.

The new Additional Directors are - V Balakrishnan, CFO; B. G. Srinivas, Senior Vice President and Head - Manufacturing, Product Engineering, Product Lifecycle and Engineering Solutions; Ashok Vemuri - Senior Vice President and Head - Banking and Capital Markets and Strategic Global Sourcing and Ann Fudge, who is a non-executive Director at Unilever, Novartis AG and General Electric Co.

The appointment of the three Infoscions for the post of whole-time Directors will be placed for approval of the shareholders at the next company annual general meeting.

N. R. Narayana Murthy, Chairman and Chief Mentor, said, "I am very happy that three outstanding Infoscions are joining the Board. I have worked with all the three closely and have benefitted immensely from their wisdom. Ann Fudge is a globally recognized and respected corporate leader. She will bring immense value to the board particularly in strengthening our brand." In April, Infosys had announced that KV Kamath will succeed Murthy as the new chairman of the company in August.

S. Gopalakrishnan, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, said, "The induction to the Board of three highly competent professionals from within our ranks is a big step forward for Infosys. Apart from infusing new energy to the Board, these three appointments clearly demonstrate the Company's commitment to recognize and reward outstanding leadership capability, hard work and performance".

Ann Fudge served on the Board of Honeywell International Inc. from 1993 to 2003 and served as the non-executive director of Marriott International Inc. from 2001 to 2003. She served as the Chairperson and Chief Executive Officer of Young and Rubicam Brands from 2003 to 2006. Prior to joining Young and Rubicam, she worked at General Mills and at Kraft Foods, where she served in a number of senior management positions including President of Beverages, Desserts and Post Cereal Division.

The company has announced a final dividend of Rs 20 per share to be paid to shareholders on June 13, 2011.

It has also appointed R. Seshasayee and Ravi Venkatesan as Directors of the company, liable to retire by rotation.

The company recently acquired Gen-i, the software solutions division of Wellington-headquartered Telecom Corporation of New Zealand (TCNZ) for an undisclosed sum.