Ruling out a government takeover of Satyam Computer Services, Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath on said it is corporate India that must respond to the issue of governing business firms.
"The statement of Satyam today is elementary. We will have to study the documents and then decide what to do next. We have to know how they (Satyam) are going to evaluate the company... One just cannot go by the lowest price, one will have to see what the benefit in it for the shareholders is," said L&T Chairman A M Naik. L&T recently hiked its holding in Satyam to 12 per cent by acquiring close to 8 per cent stake through the open market.
In June last year, Tech Mahindra completed acquisition of Mahindra Satyam -- erstwhile Satyam Computer Services -- to become India's fifth largest software services firm. Mahindra is also the Chairman of Tech Mahindra.
The government-appointed Satyam board had recently said that it secured Rs 600-crore (Rs 6-billion) bank loans, which would help it fulfil its immediate fund requirements. The lender's board, which met on January 23 to take a call on the IHFL sale, had deferred the decision, citing the need for more information about prospective buyers.
The NYSE also warned that an 'LF' indicator would be appended to the company's trading symbol and profile, date and news pages provided by the Exchange, Satyam announced in a filing to the BSE and NSE on Tuesday.
B Ramalinga Raju, the founder of Satyam computers and main accused in the Satyam accounting fraud case, appeared before a local court for the second time on Thursday after being granted bail by the Andhra Pradesh High Court.
Satyam Computer on Friday said it has shortlisted three candidates for the post of CEO and CFO and was close to arranging funds to meet immediate requirements like salary payments, while dispelling doubts about the total employee strength of 53,000.
Back on track under the new management of Tech Mahindra, Mahindra Satyam (the new identity of information technology outsourcing company Satyam Computer Services Limited) is bullish on joining the league of its peers through its predefined three-year turnaround plan.
CII believes there is a need to immediately examine the loopholes in regulation, accounting, audit and governance that allowed such lapses to occur and address them with urgency. While the occurrence of such events in a major company is a matter of deep regret, CII believes it would be inappropriate for this to be the basis of questioning of general governance standards in other companies.
"Now it is more of a corporate governance issue projected by the investor community and the media. Whatever we have done, is well within the powers of the Board of Directors," NYSE listed Satyam CFO Srinivas Valdamani told PTI. The deal was touted as something that would help Satyam diversify its business, especially when there was slowdown in the IT business in key markets such as the US and Europe.
The police tracked the kidnappers by tracing a ransom call that Satyanarayana's family received late in the evening
Judgement is subject to an appeal period of 30 days from the date of its entry.
Mahindra Satyam still has to face 13 Class Action Law suits filed in the US. Analysts peg the cash outflow for these cases to be around $100 million. Satyam also has to get large marquee outsourcing deals, and is yet to restate its accounts which will give investors a good picture of where the company stands.
However, the regulatory body has asked Tech Mahindra to share with the company's stakeholders the information Satyam had provided to the bidders.
TM has an agreement with the Union of European Football Associations, while Satyam has signed up with Fifa. A Satyam spokesperson said: "Tech Mahindra has been providing mobile streaming services to Uefa, besides other telecom services. The company will support us by offering its technology expertise in football. We will go together for the two World Cups." TM and Satyam's alliance on sports may not end with the World Cup and may expand to other disciplines as well.
"Other than the induction of the new board members, Tech Mahindra will have discussions with the management to articulate the growth of the company, strengthen the governance part and also focus on cash-flow issues. The current management members, including CEO A S Murty, will continue for some time," said a source close to the development. Tech Mahindra members are also expected to take stock of operations at Satyam.
Satyam Computer has approached the Company Law Board (CLB) to seek approval for acquisition of IT firm by Tech Mahindra.
Satyam on Thursday closed registrations for potential bidders as it began a process to sell 51 per cent stake in the company, which is caught in the country's biggest corporate scandal. The board will make the financial and legal data available to those shortlisted companies who will qualify in the EoI criteria.
As the company's financial accounts were in question, complexities have cropped up in arranging the induction of a new investor. Though the intent was to progress in a swift manner, the board was of the view that the intricacies of diligence and need for the confidentiality of the bidders would need due consideration. Thus, it was likely to take another six to eight weeks to know who would be the strategic investor in the company.
The agency was probing the rotation of funds and the role of front companies used in rotation of funds, sources said. They added that the conduct of the regulators was also being probed and, if need be, some officials may also be probed. Experts, including CAs from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India and the Institute of Cost and Works Accountants of India are assisting the CBI in probing the role of regulators in this case.
Satyam Computer Services Limited has been awarded new business in the manufacturing space by a fire suppression technologies and advanced building support systems major.
Global IT giant IBM is understood to be the front-runner to acquire Satyam Computer Solutions, a company it named as one of its main competitors in a filing to the New York Stock Exchange in February. The US major, said sources close to the developments, has begun discussions with Satyam's government-nominated board and expressed its desire to acquire a majority stake in the company. A team of investment bankers and lawyers from the US and Europe has been brought in.
How many employees does Satyam Computer Services really have? Doubts over the company's claim of 53,000 employees have arisen ever since founder B Ramalinga Raju's January 7 confession to fraud.
Mahindra Satyam, the rebranded Satyam Computer Services, is planning to recruit 2,000 professionals. It will be a mix of freshers and lateral hiring, to cater to specific requirements of some clients.
The government ordered the probe by the SFIO after receiving a report from the Registrar of Companies (RoC), Hyderabad, which inspected the books of accounts of Satyam Computer Services and eight other companies belonging to the kin of the former chairman of the IT major, B Ramalinga Raju.
Moving quickly to stabilise the fraud-devastated Satyam Computer, the government on Sunday nominated noted banker Deepak Parekh, IT expert Kiran Karnik and former Sebi member C Achuthan to the infotech company's board.
India's embattled Satyam Computer Services could become the country's first large outsourcing company to merge or be taken over amid increasing doubts over whether its founding family still controls the company.
A court in Hyderabad hearing the alleged multi-billion-rupee Satyam accounting scam, on Thursday posted the hearing on framing of charges against B Ramalinaga Raju, former chairman of Satyam Computer and nine other accused in the matter to December 9.
Because the metropolitan magistrate courts and the additional chief metropolitan magistrate courts are overburdened with cases.
Amid a crowd of suitors lining up for acquiring Satyam Computer Services, the board of the beleaguered IT firm started its meeting on Wednesday.
B Ramalinga Raju, the disgraced founder of the erstwhile Satyam Computer Services, and his family members wrongfully gained Rs 2,743 crore (Rs 27.43 billion), the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) said.
Riding on the success of the just-concluded FIFA World Cup 2010, Satyam Computer Services Ltd (rebranded Mahindra Satyam) is gearing up to provide its technology backbone solutions to two more world sporting events.
Satyam Computer Services' bidding contract stipulated 100 people who have to be retained by the new owners for at least a year. The list is 'absolutely non-hierarchical' and based on 'project criticality and customer criticality,' according to a senior company executive. It ncludes people outside the top ranks, essentially those engaged in relationship management, programme management and solution (technology) architects.
Effective this month, the 'Virtual Pool' programme is applicable on those Satyam employees based in India. It allows them to take time off from work on a reduced pay structure (for up to six months) while they continue to retain their employment. The company expects approximately 7,000 to 10,000 associates will be a part of the programme.
The agreement with the new owners of Satyam Computer Services will incorporate restrictions to prevent mass retrenchment of employees, according to a top functionary of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA).
Early on Monday morning, the chairman of the government-appointed board of Satyam Computer Services, Kiran Karnik, hurried into the Taj President Hotel in south Mumbai to begin one of India's strangest corporate sell-offs.
Tech Mahindra had acquired Satyam as part of a government sponsored bidding process in April 2009
Following the disclosure of fraud by Raju on January 7, Gupta said the share price of Satyam Computer on the bourses dropped from Rs 188 to Rs 30.70 before closing at Rs 38.40. "It (the share) has been traded at different prices since then," he added. The new board of Satyam, headed by former Nasscom president Kiran Karnik, is trying to ensure 'continuity of business and operations of the company in the interest of its stakeholders', the minister said.