CLB allows auction to find Satyam buyer

NEW DELHI: The Company Law Board on Thursday came to the rescue of cash-starved Satyam Computer Services and allowed the IT firm to increase its
authorised share capital.

The CLB added Satyam could issue preferential shares "at par or at a premium".

CLB chairman S Balasubramanian allowed the company to increase its authorised share capital to Rs 280 crore (comprising 140 crore equity shares of Rs two each) from the current Rs 160 crore.

The CLB asked the company to use the share through a preferential allotment and said the strategic investor should be found through a "transparent, open and competitive process."

Balasubramanian said the price bid auction process should be overseen by a retired judge of the Supreme Court/ a former CJI of India.

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/CLB_allows_auction_to_find_Satyam_buyer/articleshow/4156335.cms

Why Murty sold Satyam shares

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Why Murty sold Satyam shares

Hyderabad: A.S. Murty, Chief Executive Officer of Satyam Computer Services, has said he sold shares in December to pool finances required for the construction of his house.

Murty sold 40,000 shares in three tranches (on December 12, 15 and 16, 2008) ahead of the controversial decision taken by the erstwhile board to acquire Maytas Properties and Maytas Infra, the two companies owned by the kin of B. Ramalinga Raju, Satyam’s former Chairman.

“Yes, I had sold some shares to finance construction of my house which is nearly completed. These shares were sold after following due process under Satyam’s Insider Trading Guidelines,” he said.

“The new board has looked into the sale and conducted its due diligence on this issue as well, before requesting me to anchor this role. This issue has also been cleared by the legal advisors,” Murty pointed out.

Murty was among some top Satyam leaders, who sold the company shares heavily in the last two years. Murty sold some 3.14 lakh shares from October 2004.

source: http://sify.com/finance/fullstory.php?id=14855143&cid=14832589

Satyam Computer Services Ltd's board expects possible sale

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Satyam to finalise bidding process in 10 days: Karnik

Mumbai: Satyam Computer Services Ltd's board expects to outline the bidding process for a possible sale of the fraud-hit firm in the next 10 days time, the Chairman, Kiran Karnik, said on Thursday.

"We expect the (bidding) process to be defined in 7 to 10 days," Karnik told reporters.

"It's a work in progress. I can't give any deadline. I can only tell you, this needs to be done quickly."

Karnik said on Wednesday many potential suitors had approached Satyam, but a formal sale process was yet to begin.

The board has appointed Goldman Sachs and Avendus, an Indian investment bank, to look for strategic investors.

source: sify.com

Restating accounts won't delay sale: Satyam

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Restating accounts won't delay sale: Satyam

Mumbai: Bidding for the sale of fraud-hit Satyam Computer could begin before its accounts are restated, with details of the process coming as early as next week, the new company chairman said on Thursday.
The company has been struggling to survive since last month, when its founder Ramalinga Raju quit as chairman, disclosing a massive fraud that included years of overstated profits, leaving the company strapped for cash.

The Chairman, Kiran Karnik, appointed last week, said the board wanted the bidding process to start as soon as possible and it might not wait for the report on the firm's accounts.
"If the recasting takes a long time, which I expect it will, then we will not wait. That's not something which will hold up the process," Karnik said, speaking to reporters outside a meeting of the board to take stock of the issues facing customers and employees.

"It's a work in progress. I can't give any deadline. I can only tell you, this needs to be done quickly," Karnik said.

He said he expected the bidding process to be outlined in the next seven to 10 days and said the board would like to have many suitors contesting in an "open process".
Karnik said the company was financially stable and reiterated it was able to pay salaries, mainly from receivables. It has secured bank loans of Rs 600 crore ($123 million) and Karnik said that money would offer the firm an additional buffer.

"We have ensured financial stability," he said. "This is the first step and a very necessary step, though it's not a sufficient step. We have put out the fire and now we are looking at what we need to do to stabilise the company on an ongoing basis."

details here: http://sify.com/finance/fullstory.php?id=14855739&cid=14832589

Cisco to continue with Satyam

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Cisco to continue relationship with Satyam

Bangalore: The Cisco Chairman, John Chambers, reiterated on Thursday that the company would continue its relationship with Satyam Computer and would not pull out its resources as “we believe in long-term relationships”.

Speaking to reporters here after signing an MoU with the Karnataka Government for an Intelligent Urbanisation project, Chambers said Cisco was impressed with the Indian Government’s initiatives to restore confidence in Satyam.

Chambers said that despite the downturn, the company’s confidence in emerging markets such as India and China would continue and is stronger now more than ever. “We see that India is handling the economic crisis well.” He also told reporters that he personally believed that the US will be the first to come out of the slump and gave an optimistic forecast of the end of the calendar 2009 for a turnaround.

Acquisition plans

Responding to a query on Cisco’s acquisitions, Chambers said that the company may use part of the cash from its recent $4 billion sale of bonds to make small acquisitions in the US, India and China. Cisco may consider buying companies employing about 100 engineers with a ‘hot product,’ for buy-outs, he said.

He said the company also has about $29 billion cash for acquisitions.

source: http://sify.com/finance/fullstory.php?id=14855781&cid=14832589

Satyam questions police claim on headcount

HYDERABAD: Satyam on Friday the state police's claim that the company's employee numbers were inflated by over 12,000, saying there appears no basis
for doubting the actual staff strength even as the new board committed to name a new CEO and CFO by next week.

"As of now, we believe there are 53,000 employees which is subject to verification and auditing," a Satyam spokesperson told PTI and said: "The board has confirmed that prima facie there appears to be no basis to doubt the same."

The new board, constituted by the union government after a Rs 7,800 crore accounting fraud was disclosed Satyam founder Ramalinga Raju, met for the third time in 13 days.

An independent investigation process is expected to reaffirm the head count in the coming weeks, the company said in a statement, while controverting the serious doubts raised regarding the employee numbers by external authorities.

Andhra Pradesh CID had on Thursday informed a local court that Satyam's founder Ramalinga Raju had admitted that employees numbers were inflated by over 12,000, by which he drew over Rs 20 crore a month towards staff costs.

The meeting of the new board, chaired by Tarun Das, took a number of decisions for smooth business operation, arranging liquidity and assuaging clients. It also announced shortlisting the final three for the post of CEO and CFO and that a final decision would be taken in the next week.

"Robust" collection from receivables helped the board breathe easy, as it interacted with a number of investment bankers and a decision would be taken in the next few days as to who the banker would be.

Taking note of the demanding financial situation, board member Deepak Parekh said that funding arrangements are in the final stages of being concluded and would be formally announced before January 28.

Parekh also indicated that the immovable properties of the company, including campuses, could be mortgaged to raise funds, saying "they are free of any encumbrance."

On the hunt for new CEO and CFO, the board said: "This is a crucial decision for the company and its stakeholders."

"We fully recognize the urgency and importance to have the right person with the right experience and abilities (as CEO and CFO) to successfully steer the company through these turbulent times," it said

The board also said that the company was addressing customer issues and has spoken to two dozen key customers and individuals.

"A few large customers have already visited the company's development centres in India and have expressed their satisfaction on the team's commitment towards their projects," the statement said.

Satyam's director Kiran Karnik said: "There is a pronounced shift in customer's attitude. From being alarmed in the initial days, it has changed to a sense of cautious optimism. The planned actions will have a distinct impact on the customer confidence."


Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Satyam_questions_claims_of_fudged_headcount/articleshow/4023481.cms