Described by IBM as "the world’s largest IT infrastructure provider" Kyndryl was formed as part of IBM's plans to separate its managed infrastructure services business by the end the year.
The name Kyndryl was announced in April, with CEO and chairman Martin Schroeter saying it "evokes the spirit of true partnership and growth".
Trading under the ticker “KD” Kyndryl celebrated becoming an independent, publicly-traded company by ringing the Opening Bell at the NYSE this morning. Shares were distributed to IBM shareholders on Wednesday evening, and they received one Kyndryl share for every five IBM shares owned. IBM has temporarily retained 19.9% equity ownership of Kyndryl following the distribution.
“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 Schroeter.
“There is a large and growing need for digital transformation services, and our unrivaled global expertise in creating, managing and modernising mission-critical information systems positions us well in a market that will expand to more than $500 billion by 2024. We look forward to the path ahead, with a flatter and faster company that is at the heart of progress for our customers and for the world.”
Providing advisory, implementation and managed services to more than 4,000 global customers, Kyndryl currently generates $19 billion in annual revenue. Its customer base includes 75% of the Fortune 100 and financial services, telecommunications, retail, airline and automotive companies
It has a team of 90,000 professionals worldwide and customers in more than 60 countries around the world.
In July, Antoine Shagoury was named chief technology officer, while Vic Bhagat, who was previously SVP and chief information officer of Verizon Enterprise Solutions, was confirmed to head Kyndryl's advisory practice.
Tosca Colangeli, president UK and Ireland for Kyndryl, said: “The UK and Ireland market is alive with opportunity. We are starting independence with a strong foothold, working with more than 300 customers across all areas of the economy, to design, build, manage, modernise, and run the vital systems that help them remain competitive in an increasingly digital environment. In the UK and Ireland, Kyndryl has the technology integration capabilities and skills that support 70% of the UKI banking industry, this is an unprecedented footprint and benchmark of expertise.
"Collectively, our UK and Ireland employees have 27,000 years of services experience. As you would expect from a true services company, at the core of our business is our people and we are looking forward to helping our customers unlock new possibilities enabled by our local talent. We are confident that Kyndryl will remain essential to fuelling innovation, growth and progress for our customers,” Colangeli added.
