Ahead of next month's crucial board meet that is expected to give way to a change in management, Satyam Computer on Monday said that the promoters' stake may have already reduced as a result of institutional lenders selling shares pledged with them.
The decision of Satyam Computer Services to give itself time to consider a series of options to shore up investor confidence, including steps to strengthen governance, has come as a welcome surprise to institutional investors in the company.
Three days after the World Bank decided to ban it for eight years, Satyam Computer Services today hit back and demanded an apology from the bank for "certain inappropriate statements" made by its representatives.
Foxnews.com on Tuesday reported that the World Bank ban started in September this year "due to alleged malpractice's including bribery". The news report said the World Bank debarment -- the harshest sanction ever made by the bank since 2004 -- was meted out for 'improper benefit to bank staff' and 'lack of documentation on invoices'.When contacted, a Satyam spokesperson said that "the company does not comment on individual clients".
Unlikely to launch formal probe into IT firm's Maytas move.
A local court on Thursday allowed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to conduct lie-detector and brain mapping tests on Satyam Computer founder B Ramalinga Raju and two others to help unravel the multi-crore accounting scam in the IT firm.
From a premium benchmark index stock to a penny stock and now back to the mid-cap space, the bounce-back has surprised even seasoned market players, though most of them are still wary of taking a call on the stock.
Satyam Computer Services did not consult Mendu Rammohan Rao, dean of the Indian School of Business and an independent director on the board of India's fourth largest IT services provider, when it called off the deal to acquire Maytas Infra and Maytas Properties following shareholder protests. Rao had chaired the board meeting that endorsed the company's proposal to buy the two firms linked to the family of Satyam's founder and chairman B Ramalinga Raju.
Companies dissatisfied with 'intent and focus' of tech major.
"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 company yesterday announced a $1.6 billion deal to acquire Maytas Properties and Maytas Infrastructure, companies run by Satyam chief Ramalinga Raju's sons B Rama Raju and Teja Raju. Investors' opposition forced Satyam to call off the deal on Wednesday.
Satyam Computer Services on Wednesday announced that it is not going ahead with its proposed acquisition of Maytas Properties and Maytas Infra, in light of the feedback received from the Investor community.
By entering into related-party deals without shareholder approval, the firm has done irreparable damage to India Inc's reputation. Minority shareholders of Satyam Computer have every reason to feel short-changed. Without so much as by your leave, the management has decided to enter into related party transactions using the company balance sheet.
'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.
2009: A year of scandals and tragedy for Andhra.
For the Company Law Board, 2009 was a case of fence eating the crop, as the quasi-judicial body that was looking into the affairs of fraud-hit Satyam Computer saw its acting Chairman accused of graft.
National Australia Bank is one of the key customers Tech Mahindra executive vice-chairman Vineet Nayyar will be meeting next week. Nayyar will be in town to spread Satyam's new identity after it was renamed Mahindra Satyam, and try to regain its standing with the NAB and clients such as Qantas and Suncorp. Satyam continues to provide application development and IT maintenance services to the NAB.
Satyam Computer, which has been acquired by Tech Mahindra and rebranded as Mahindra Satyam, is likely to get a new chief financial officer (CFO) by the first week of July.
This strategic move paves the way for the emergence of a robust brand, which draws from the core values of the Mahindra Group and the inherent strength of the Satyam brand. The logo will be adopted from the Mahindra Group, an official press note of the company said.
Some employees have alleged that close to 20 employees of the troubled Satyam Computer Services have been promoted to the I-1 and I-2 bands (representing assistant vice-president and vice-president levels) and also received a salary hike of 20-40 per cent. The timing has caused much resentment with some employees taking up the matter with the human resources department.
Indian IT majors like Tata Consultancy Services, Wipro and Satyam Computer Services -- which have running multi-million dollar deals with General Motors that has filed for bankruptcy -- are likely to face a short-term impact since any loss of business in these slowing economic conditions is a setback.
Earlier this month, the corporate affairs ministry had written to various ministries including telecom, railways and steel seeking directions for public sector units under their administrative control for exempting Satyam from submitting audited balance sheets while bidding for projects of the state-owned firms.
The family of B Ramalinga Raju, the main accused in the multi-crore fraud at Satyam Computer, has approached a local court seeking a direction to de-freeze bank accounts and return seized electronic items.
An young IT executive discusses how would-be employers duped him and left him without a job.
The scrip ended today's trade at Rs 90.55, down by 10.92 per cent from its previous close on the BSE.
Sources said that the new management made a formal announcement before senior management personnel on Thursday on the issue of reducing manpower by up to 14,000 people.
With prominent Indian IT companies such as Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Wipro, Infosys Technologies, Zensar Technologies and Satyam Computer Services increasing their presence in Japan, the world's second largest IT services market is becoming a lucrative market for India.
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.
Chrysler and General Motors each annually outsource $200-300 million (around Rs 10-15 billion) worth of projects to different vendors, which may be hit by 20-25 per cent, says Avinash Vashistha, chairman and CEO, Tholons, a research and advisory firm. While Chrysler has filed for bankruptcy, there is talk that GM may follow suit.
The compulsory peer reviews of auditors' notes for Sensex and Nifty companies for Q3 results of the last fiscal and full-year results of 2007-08 have proved a virtual non-starter, owing to confusion over its scope and the appointment of auditors.
While the deal at the bid price of Rs 58 per share may bring some cheer to Satyam's shareholders as it brings to end a host of uncertainties, Tech Mahindra has a tough task on its hands, given that Satyam's revenues and client-base is diminishing slowly.
They will take stock of the current situation and discuss the way forward. Handing over the share allotment documents to Tech Mahindra is also on the agenda of Monday's board meet, according to a Satyam spokesperson. Tech Mahindra Vice-Chairman, MD & CEO Vineet Nayyar, C P Gurnani, president (international operations), and President (strategic initiatives) Sanjay Kalra have confirmed their participation in the meet.
IT services provider Satyam Computer Services Limited is setting up a 15-acre campus at Cyber Jaya, the IT hub of Malaysia, which is expected to be operational by this year end, said Prasenjit Kundu, head (global solutions centre in Malaysia), Satyam.
The Company Law Board on Thursday completed the formality of approving the induction of Venturbay, a subsidiary of Tech Mahindra, as the strategic investor to acquire a 31 per cent stake in Satyam Computer Services and asked it to deposit Rs 1,756 crore for the deal by April 21 in a designated account.
The company has a total of 34,000 employees globally.
The board -- which includes, Kiran Karnik, T N Manoharan, former chief, ICAI, and HDFC chief Deepak Parekh, appeared relieved after a marathon run of selecting a bidder for the scam-tainted firm.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday said the country's regulatory structure is strong enough to prevent a Satyam-like fraud in future.
Ironically, the laws of the land seem to have given him breathing time from the interrogation of various investigation agencies, which plunged into action soon after the Rs 7,800 crore (Rs 78 billion) scam was exposed.
Satyam Computer moved a step closer towards finalising bids for selling a majority stake in the trouble-torn IT company with the board meeting investment bankers on Thursday.
IBM's exit leaves the field open for engineering giant Larsen & Toubro, which owns 12 per cent in Satyam, Tech Mahindra, Cognizant Technology and private equity firm Wilbur L Ross. Satyam currently faces 13 class action suits by holders of the company's ADRs in the US. An investment banker close to the deal said IBM was a big name and could, therefore, be vulnerable to more lawsuits.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances