Telstra sells 75 percent Versent stake to Infosys for $233m

Indian IT services company Infosys will take a 75 percent stake in Versent Group, a wholly owned unit of Telstra, for $233.3 million.

Versent Group provides cloud services to Australian organisations in sectors such as finance, energy, utilities, government and education.

It comprises not only of Versent - which Telstra bought in October 2023 for $267.5 million - but also Epicon, Telstra Purple Digital, and 'Cloud Access' products.

The telco will retain a 25 percent minority stake in Versent Group under the deal.

The deal, which Infosys says will boost its local presence, is expected to close by the second half of fiscal 2026, subject to approvals from Foreign Investment Review Board of Australia and Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.

Telstra CEO Vicki Brady said the "collaboration with Infosys reflects our confidence in the value we can unlock together."

"Their global scale, deep industry knowledge, and culture of innovation and service excellence will be instrumental in accelerating Versent Group’s growth and impact across the region," she said.

In a statement to the ASX, Telstra said it would receive a $175 million upfront payment, with the remainder of the purchase price deferred and subject to performance and other conditions.

"The deal is not expected to result in any material gain or loss to Telstra based on the carrying value of the Versent Group," Telstra said.

Telstra added that the decision to offload a majority stake is consistent with its "Connected Future 30 strategy to focus on core connectivity" and to reset its struggling enterprise business.

Telstra is set to hand down its full-year results later today.

Additional reporting by iTnews.