The board of fraud-hit Satyam Computer Services Ltd hopes to invite expression of interest from potential bidders by the end of this week, its chairman said on Tuesday.
"We hope to send something out by end of this week," Kiran Karnik said in a phone interview, adding the board may need to take regulatory approval before doing so.
The government-appointed board of Satyam will meet at its headquarters in the southern city of Hyderabad on Thursday, he said, but declined to comment on the bid process and conditions.
Satyam has been struggling for survival since Ja. 7, when its founder and chairman Ramalinga Raju quit after disclosing that profits had been overstated for years at the New York-listed outsourcing firm.
The IT firm said on Saturday it would submit a plan to pick a strategic investor to regulators this week, after it had won approval to increase its shares on issue and bring on board a partner for its revival.
Potential suitors include India's top engineering and construction firm Larsen & Toubro, Hinduja group and Spice group, whose chairman has said a 51 percent stake should be sold, rather than giving an investor a smaller stake and then requiring them to make an open offer to shareholders.
Karnik said the restatement of Satyam's accounts would take time and the bidders would have to make their decisions based on information other than audited accounts of the company.
The board appointed KPMG and Deloitte in January to restate Satyam accounts.
"Ideally a bidder would want audited accounts but the whole problem is there are in fact no audited accounts and that's not going to be solved in the immediate future in time for this," Karnik said.
Satyam, which has more than 600 clients including General Electric, Cisco and Qantas Airways has lost three or four important clients since the revelation of the accounting fraud last month, Karnik said.
"Business looks good after the initial reaction which was somewhat panicky but understandable," he said, adding many customers were watching what happens next by way of the strategic investor.
"We hope to send something out by end of this week," Kiran Karnik said in a phone interview, adding the board may need to take regulatory approval before doing so.
The government-appointed board of Satyam will meet at its headquarters in the southern city of Hyderabad on Thursday, he said, but declined to comment on the bid process and conditions.
Satyam has been struggling for survival since Ja. 7, when its founder and chairman Ramalinga Raju quit after disclosing that profits had been overstated for years at the New York-listed outsourcing firm.
The IT firm said on Saturday it would submit a plan to pick a strategic investor to regulators this week, after it had won approval to increase its shares on issue and bring on board a partner for its revival.
Potential suitors include India's top engineering and construction firm Larsen & Toubro, Hinduja group and Spice group, whose chairman has said a 51 percent stake should be sold, rather than giving an investor a smaller stake and then requiring them to make an open offer to shareholders.
Karnik said the restatement of Satyam's accounts would take time and the bidders would have to make their decisions based on information other than audited accounts of the company.
The board appointed KPMG and Deloitte in January to restate Satyam accounts.
"Ideally a bidder would want audited accounts but the whole problem is there are in fact no audited accounts and that's not going to be solved in the immediate future in time for this," Karnik said.
Satyam, which has more than 600 clients including General Electric, Cisco and Qantas Airways has lost three or four important clients since the revelation of the accounting fraud last month, Karnik said.
"Business looks good after the initial reaction which was somewhat panicky but understandable," he said, adding many customers were watching what happens next by way of the strategic investor.
Article Source:http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Business/Satyam-may-invite-bids-by-weekend/articleshow/4182667.cms
1 comments:
Things are now moving at a brisk pace for Satyam. Lets hope the stabilisation period for Satyam is round the corner
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