- WANdisco rebrands as Cirata.
- Overcomes fraud investigation challenges.
- Aims to regain market leadership.
WANdisco has rebranded as Cirata to put an end to a turbulent year marked by a fraud investigation and the termination of 30 percent of its workforce.
The company expects to begin trading under its new name on the London Stock Exchange on Thursday, after shareholders overwhelmingly approved the transition at its annual general meeting in August.
Cirata is a combination of the terms ‘cirrus cloud’ and ‘data’ chosen by the company to distance itself from the accounting scandal that engulfed it earlier this year.
The software provider, whose headquarters are in Sheffield and California, previously confessed to experiencing “months of trauma” as a result of the scandal.
Stephen Kelly, CEO of WANdisco, stated that the rebranding was “not just a name change,” but a “new beginning for the company” that will have a positive effect on every aspect of the business.
He added, ‘We are thrilled to have this opportunity for Cirata to become a global market leader.’
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The junior AIM market suspended WANdisco’s shares in March after’significant, sophisticated, and perhaps fraudulent inaccuracies’ in its 2022 financial statements.
An independent investigation determined that a single senior employee was responsible for overstating revenues and registering £88 million in fictitious sales bookings. The Financial Conduct Authority opened another investigation.
Last year, WANdisco’s actual revenue was £7.4 million, not £18 million as incorrectly reported, and its commitments were a meagre £8.7 million, not £97 million.
The saga led to around 30 per cent of its employees being made redundant, the departures of finance boss Erik Miller and co-founder and chief executive David Richards, and left the company battling for survival.
During the summer, the group received a crucial lifeline when it raised £24.3 million from investors through a share placement.
In the end, this allowed WANdisco shares to resume trading on July 26 at a 96% discount to their previous closing price.
They rose 1.3% to 63.8p on Wednesday morning from £13.10 when halted seven months earlier.
WANdisco develops software that enables businesses to upload massive datasets to the cloud for use in machine learning and artificial intelligence.
Automobile manufacturers General Motors and Mercedes-Benz Group, technology titans Google and Amazon, and web hosting platform GoDaddy are among its largest clients.
Prior to the accounting scandal, it was one of the UK’s fastest-growing businesses and was contemplating a New York listing.
