Troubled WANdisco rebrands as Cirata
The British software company, WANdisco, is attempting to shed its scandal-strewn recent history by rebranding itself as Cirata.
WANdisco was plunged into controversy earlier this year when the company admitted it had misrepresented sales reports. The company’s shares were suspended on the stock exchange, and the company’s chairman, CEO and CFO all resigned.
The company – which specialises in software that replicates data across different locations – required a fresh share issue to raise $30 million in July, allowing it to regain its listing on the AIM stock market. But the company’s share price has predictably collapsed, falling from around 1,300p pre-scandal to today’s price of around 80p.
Goodbye WANdisco, hello Cirata
At the company’s AGM earlier this week, shareholders voted emphatically for the change of name, with more than 99% of the votes cast in favour of the switch.
“The Company felt the time was right to be renamed as part of a broad and extensive rebranding program that best reflects the updated Company vision, values and future growth plans,” a company statement reads.
“The new name is intended to provide a new and positive canvas where the Company can build positive brand equity going forward.”
The company said it intends to adopt the new name in Q4 of this year. In the meantime, there’s a shell website for the new brand at Cirata.io.
Can the company recover?
The big question is whether – even under new leadership and with a new name – the company can piece back together its once-strong reputation.
The company admitted to accepting “potentially fraudulent” sales orders that reduced its 2022 revenues from a reported $24 million to only $9.7 million. The new CEO, Stephen Kelly, called 2022 a “wasted year” for the company, which is something of an understatement for a company that had more than 90% of its value wiped out practically overnight.
Still, the company’s core product, which helps geographically dispersed data centres synchronise data instantaneously, remains a key asset and the new management is confident it still has a place in the market. “It’s time to focus our collective attention on the future and do everything we can to help drive the growth plan forward,” said Kelly in the company’s statement. Â
“Renaming and rebranding the Company is one step in that journey and we’re excited to build Cirata into a category leader”.
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Barry Collins
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