Quoting Jacob Rees-Mogg, the lead manager with Somerset capital management, a fund that specialises in emerging markets, NYT said, "[T]he fraud will make people even more nervous about investing in India and other developing markets". Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal said, "[T]he chairman of one of India's largest technology companies said he concocted key financial results, . . . sending shock waves across India".
Many members of the association, who had bought shares of the IT firm at Rs 540 some four months back, had suffered heavy losses when the scrip crashed to Rs 39 on Wednesday, he said.
Following is the chronological summary of events which saw IT major Satyam Computer Services, founded in 1987, on its path to disaster:
Satyam Computer Services Ltd has appointed Ram Mynampati as the interim CEO.
Satyam Computer Services Ltd has appointed Ram Mynampati as the interim CEO.
HCL, MindTree in the fray. The company is reportedly in talks with Delhi-based HCL Technologies and Bangalore-based MindTree. HCL, with whom discussions are on for a cash-less merger, seems to be the front-runner, investment banking sources said.
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.
Paving the way for takeover of crisis-ridden Satyam by Tech Mahindra, the Company Law Board allowed the new owners to appoint Vineet Nayyar, C P Gurnani, Sanjay Kalra and Ulhas N Yargon on the board.
Two more directors on Monday resigned from the board of Satyam Computer Services, taking the number to three, following differences over an abortive acquisition deal involving two firms promoted by chairman Ramalinga Raju's family.
Meeting agenda to go beyond buyback.
The Central Bureau of Investigation, investigating the financial scam at Satyam Computer Services, is finding it difficult to crack the content of the two laptops that belong to the company's founder, B Ramalinga Raju. It is now sourcing special accessories to unearth the data stored in them.
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.
Maytas Infrastructure Ltd, the listed company floated by the promoters of Satyam Computer Services, plans to raise Rs 800 crore to Rs 1,000 crore through asset sales plus loan and guarantees from banks to complete various projects, including the prestigious Hyderabad Metro, and to bid for some new projects that are coming up for auction.
Upaid claimed it had served requests for production of documents related to the 'now scuttled Maytas transfers on Satyam' on Friday, but now had to submit this motion to the court 'because Satyam had repeatedly resisted its efforts to depose Raju and Vadlamani in the case.' The current motion is in reply to a disparagement case that Satyam had filed against Upaid wherein the former had claimed that the payment services firm has been disparaging them in the public domain.
The crux of the problem it appears is one of "trust" and the perception that a unilateral decision was taken by the board, allegedly to favour Raju's sons' companies.
The government is understood to have ordered a probe into Satyam Computer Services' controversial decision to buy two group-promoted companies and then reversing the deal within a few hours under pressure from investors.
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).
For Tech Mahindra, the successful bidder for Satyam Computer Services, it was "a game-changing day," according to Anand Mahindra, vice-chairman & MD of Mahindra & Mahindra.
Analysts are optimistic on absorption of new clients, growth possibilities under Tech Mahindra. For Tech Mahindra, the biggest positive is that the two companies have synergies in service offerings and client portfolio, says Sabyasachi Satpathy, director and co-founder, Mindplex Consulting. Satyam will give Tech Mahindra capabilities in enterprise resource planning, systems integration, as well as vertical expertise in the embedded, manufacturing and insurance space.
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.
Months before Satyam Computer Services founder B Ramalinga Raju made disclosures about committing fraud, authorities in the US had initiated an investigation into the company's dealings with Syria, Sudan, Cuba and Iran, identified by the US government as state sponsors of terrorism, and subject to US economic sanctions and export controls.
With only two days left for the final bidding process to start (9 am on April 13), the government-appointed board of Satyam Computer Services is giving final touches to the modalities. And providing the extra information the potential bidders wanted.
It looks like IBM is betting on Vaswani to replicate the success he had with Dell
"The situation is bad. Some people are leaving and some are being asked to leave. And more important, several positions are remaining vacant. The selected candidates for these posts are not coming," said an associate, as the employees are called. "There is talk now that the new company, whichever that is, will cut at least 10,000 jobs gradually. We are praying that this is unfounded," a senior associate said.
If no bid comes within at least 90 per cent of the highest bid, the highest bidder would be declared the final buyer. Accordingly, the government-appointed board and Justice S P Bharucha, the former chief justice who will oversee the bidding, will open the sealed financial bids submitted by the shortlisted qualified bidders whose technical bids have been found satisfactory, and rank them based on price only. Earlier, there was no ranking of the bids.
The buzz refuses to die down even though other PE players, investment bankers and analysts say such an alliance is highly unlikely. Wilbur Ross, meanwhile, is understood to have completed the due diligence of the scam-tainted IT company. When contacted, a company official declined comment.
A court allowed the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO), a central government body, to question Satyam Computer Services founder B Ramalinga Raju, former managing director B Rama Raju, former chief financial officer Srinivas Vadlamani and two Price Waterhouse auditors, S Gopalakrishnan and Srinivas Talluri, for six days from March 29.
The scrip ended today's trade at Rs 90.55, down by 10.92 per cent from its previous close on the BSE.
ICAI starts proceedings against software firm's CFO and head of audit cell.
Australian telecom giant Telstra has reportedly dropped outsourcing partner Satyam Computer Services from an applications support contract worth Aus $32 million annually.
"Satyam will give us the scale. This will make us stronger," says Phaneesh Murthy, CEO of the Freemont (California)-based IT services provider, iGate Corporation, and one of the suitors of the beleaguered IT corporation.
On one hand, they feel the sale will help in restore the firm's past glory. On the other, they fear that life would be tougher in the new company. Notwithstanding management assurances that existing staff won't be retrenched after the takeover, several employees are understood to be hunting for openings elsewhere.
'But I would not like to write it myself. I don't think it will be right.'
The Satyam board may present prospective bidders for the troubled Satyam Computer Services with operating statements for two quarters - October-December 2008 and January-March 2009 - to help them arrive at a decision.
Satyam Computer Services on Friday received approval from market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India to facilitate a global competitive bidding process enabling it to sell 51 per cent stake in the company to a strategic investor.
Engineering giant Larsen and Toubro (L&T) is selling a third of its 6.9 per cent stake in Mahindra Satyam, formerly Satyam Computer Services. The transaction is expected to fetch Rs 304 crore (Rs 3.04 billion) for the company, said banking sources.
Bidding guidelines for inviting a strategic investor in Satyam Computer Services Ltd are expected to be ready in 10-15 days, Corporate Affairs Minister Prem Chand Gupta has said. "It would be a transparent process," said Gupta. The Satyam board was in touch with the financial consultants and would take a decision soon, he added.
According to Sud, MYNL had sold most of its holding in Satyam immediately after the IT major made an aborted bid to acquire Maytas Infra and Maytas Properties for $1.6 billion on December 16, 2008. MYNL still holds 6,000 equity shares of Satyam.
'We wrote to the bank a few weeks ago. We don't expect an immediate response as these things take time but we disagree with the claims they've made,' Australian IT quoted Tech Mahindra executive vice-chairman Vineet Nayyar as saying in Sydney. Satyam was blacklisted last September and a month later was forced to deny reports that its contractors had installed spy software on World Bank computers.
The government is understood to be in favour of selling a 51 per cent stake in the beleaguered Satyam Computer Services, so that the ailing firm can raise sufficient funds to meet its working capital expenses and liabilities from the class-action suits.
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