RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK – There’s a new publicly-traded company with a large portion of its workforce based in the Triangle: the IBM spin-out Kyndryl.
Today marks the official completion of the previously-announced process of spinning off the company from IBM, which maintains a large campus in RTP. Kyndryl headquarters is in New York City, according to the company, though a portion of its workforce remains in North Carolina, and the company website lists 312 openings for job roles based in the Tar Heel State.
Today, Kyndryl executives will ring the Opening Bell at the New York Stock Exchange, and the company’s stock will trade under the ticker symbol “KD.”
Kyndryl will operate independently, and will be an IT infrastructure provider with an approach that the company calls “differentiated” in a statement. That’s due to how the company will approach its work, according to a statement, where the company notes that its approach “integrates development, security and operations.”
Some 90,000 workers are employed by Kyndryl. The company noted in a statement that its customer base includes more than 4,000 customers globally, including 75% of the Fortune 100.
“We are thrilled that Kyndryl is today an independent company — with 90,000 of the best and brightest professionals, a strong balance sheet and a path to growth,” said Martin Schroeter, CEO and chairman of Kyndryl. “There is a large and growing need for digital transformation services, and our unrivaled global expertise in creating, managing and modernizing mission-critical information systems positions us well in a market that will expand to more than $500 billion by 2024.”
‘Fast and focused:’ CEO spells out his vision for IBM spinoff Kyndryl
The company’s financial position was described in a statement from the company as “solid,” and the company noted that it produces $19 billion in annual revenue.
In a presentation in mid-October, it noted that the separation from IBM “more than doubles our addressable market from $240 billion pre-spin to $510 billion by 2024, with market growth driven by numerous interrelated tailwinds.”
The company presentation states that Kyndryl will have access to $5.2 billion in liquidity, and a cash balance of about $2 billion, following the spin-out.
According to the company, IBM shareholders received one share of Kyndryl stock for every five IBM shares owned on the evening of Nov. 3. IBM retained “temporarily” 19.9% equity ownership of Kyndryl following the distribution. Approximately 224 million shares of Kyndryl will be “outstanding” following the spin-out, the company presentation noted.
The company states on its website, in a list of responses to what it deemed are “frequently asked questions,” that client pricing will not change following the spinout, and that amending existing contracts will begin “in the coming weeks.”
The move was originally announced on Oct. 8, 2020. At the time, IBM did not name the spin-out, instead referring to it as “NewCo.” Later, IBM released the name, Kyndryl, and explained the name’s roots.
Kyndryl named its CIO earlier this year: Michael Bradshaw. Bradshaw is a native of Durham and a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
In July, IBM and Kyndryl executives laid out six priorities for the spin-off: Cloud, Applications, Data & AI, Security & Resiliency, Core Enterprise & zCloud, Network & Edge, Digital Workplace.
The company was named by Lenovo at Lenovo’s Tech World event earlier this year as a partner by Stephen Leonard, who at the time was named IBM’s Global Alliance Leader in support of Kyndryl, noted the partnership would be essential for the entity as it became a standalone company, noting it would result in a “drive for hypergrowth coming out of the gate as a stand alone entity.”
IBM spinoff Kyndryl outlines global organization, six areas of focus
Leadership for Kyndryl
The company has named 10 presidents for specific global markets. They are, in alphabetical order by last name:
- Tosca Colangeli, President of Kyndryl United Kingdom and Ireland
- Xerxes Cooper, President of Kyndryl Canada
- Paolo Degl‘Innocenti, President of Kyndryl Italy
- Luis Roca Fernandez, President of Kyndryl Spain and Portugal
- Markus Koerner, President of Kyndryl Germany
- Matt Milton, President of Kyndryl United States
- Kerry Purcell, President of Kyndryl Australia and New Zealand
- Philippe Roncati, President of Kyndryl France
- Lingraju Sawkar, President of Kyndryl India
- Takashi Uesaka, President of Kyndryl Japan
The senior leadership team, in addition to Schroeter and Bradshaw, includes, in alphabetical order by last name:
- Nelly Akoth, Chief Transformation Officer
- Harsh Chugh, Chief Operations Officer
- Maryjo Charbonnier, Chief Human Resources Officer
- Elly Keinan, President
- Vineet Khurana, Controller
- Una Pulizzi, Global Head of Corporate Affairs
- Rick Ruiz, Strategic Markets President
- Edward Sebold, General Counsel
- Antoine Shagoury, Chief Technology Officer
- Maria Bartolome Winans, Chief Marketing Officer
- David Wyshner, Chief Financial Officer
WRAL TechWire previously reported these leadership positions.
