Independent Investigation Update

WANdisco Plc

28 April 2023

 

28 April 2023

WANdisco plc 

("WANdisco" or the "Company") 

Independent Investigation Update

WANdisco (LSE: WAND), the data activation platform, announces that the independent investigation undertaken by FRP Advisory has, based on its detailed review of the identified evidence, drawn its conclusions regarding the scope, scale and limits of the irregularities associated with received purchase orders and related revenue and sales bookings as represented by one senior sales employee. Those conclusions are that:

·      all of the purchase orders associated with the senior sales employee in question are illegitimate;

·      all other purchase orders (i.e. those not associated with or secured by the senior sales employee in question) are legitimate;

·      the impact of these findings on the Company's accounts, therefore, remains as set out in the Company's announcement of 3 April 2023; and

·    there is no credible evidence that there are any customers using the Company's technology and who believe they are making payments to either the Company, an authorised reseller or partner but who are instead making payments unwittingly and/or unknowingly to an unauthorised third party. However, notwithstanding that it would be technically extremely difficult for a third party to implement and deploy the Company's product without the knowledge and support of the Company, it is not possible to provide a completely definitive conclusion that there has been no unauthorised use by a third party.

These conclusions and the basis for them will now be passed to the Company's auditors, so that the process to conclude the Company's FY 2022 financial results can continue.

It remains the case that the evidence identified supports the initial view that the irregularities are as a result of the actions of one senior sales employee only.

Ongoing Workstreams

An update on key initiatives following FRP's continuing work to examine relevant processes and controls and other steps being taken to improve the Group's internal processes will be provided in the Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 December 2022, once published.

The Company and Board continue to proactively engage with relevant customers, partners, and related entities with the aim of concluding this matter in a complete, thorough, and timely manner. The Board remains committed to seeking the lifting of the suspension of trading in the Company's shares on AIM as quickly as possible and is working with its Nominated Adviser to achieve this. Further updates will be made in due course as appropriate.

The Company is pleased to confirm that Ijoma Maluza commenced his work as Interim Chief Financial Officer on April 11, as planned, following announcement of his appointment on April 3. In addition, the Board continues to advance its process to secure a new Chief Executive Officer and to ensure that the Board has the appropriate skills, experience and balance to drive the Company's future development.

Kenneth Lever, Executive Chairman of Wandisco plc, commented:

"We are pleased to receive these findings, which confirm the limits of the impact of the identified irregularities in line with our announcement of April 3. The Board remains squarely focused on workstreams to lift the suspension of our shares as soon as is practicable and position WANdisco for long-term growth and success."

This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) 596/2014 as it forms part of UK domestic law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 ("MAR"), and is disclosed in accordance with the company's obligations under Article 17 of MAR.

Enquiries: 

WANdisco plc	via FTI Consulting
FTI Consulting	[phone]
Matt Dixon / Rob Mindell / Kwaku Aning / Tom Blundell
Stifel (Nomad and Joint Broker)	[phone]
Fred Walsh / Richard Short / Tom Marsh
Liberum (Joint Broker)	[phone]
Max Jones

About WANdisco

WANdisco is the data activation platform for accelerating digital transformation at scale. WANdisco makes infinite data actionable across clouds and enterprises in real time. WANdisco customers unleash the business value of the cloud with zero downtime, data loss, or disruption to fuel AI and machine learning, create new services, and transform businesses. For more information about WANdisco, visit: www.wandisco.com

 

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