Virtusa’s Kris Canekeratne to step down after 25-year stint

Global business consulting and IT outsourcing company, Virtusa Corporation, which was founded in Sri Lanka, will see its chief Kris Canekeratne pass on the leadership baton, ending a 25-year run with the company.

Canekeratne, also one of the four co-founders, ends his stint with the company after successfully bringing the IT service provider to US$ 1.3 billion in sales over the past quarter century.

Canekeratne, who served as Chairman and CEO, will exit both the roles by June 30. The move comes after Virtusa was acquired by Baring Private Equity Asia (BPEA) for US$ 2 billion. “With the added strength of BPEA’s ownership, the impressive performance of the business, and the strength of the leadership team we have in place, I’ve decided that it’s the right time for me to explore my next chapter,” Canekeratne said in a statement commenting on his exit.

Highlighting the contribution of the soon to step-down chief, BPEA said the entrepreneurial spirit, passion and vision of Canekeratne helped to build Virtusa into the IT Services and Digital Engineering powerhouse that it 
is today.

“He led Virtusa through a period of strong growth and has been devoted to our company and its employees and committed to providing leading solutions to our clients,” BPEA Managing Director Jimmy Mahtani said in a statement.

Canekeratne earned more than US$ 8.2 million in total compensation during Virtusa’s final year as a publicly traded company, which was in line with his US$ 8 million and US $ 8.8 million compensation packages in fiscal 2019 and 2018, according to regulatory filings.

He also co-founded eDocs, an electronic bill presentment and payment technology provider that was acquired in 2004 by Siebel Systems (now part of Oracle) for US$115 million.

The Board of Directors of Virtusa announced that while Sander van ‘t Noordende will take over the role as Chairman from May15, the search for a new CEO is still underway and in the coming weeks the selection will be finalised.

To-date Virtusa remains the biggest IT sector employee in Sri Lanka.