Scandal-hit Satyam Computer Services today said Fidelity International (FIL Asia Services Pty Ltd) has purchased 3.62 per cent shares, raising its stake in the company to 6.79 per cent.
The open market purchase was done by FIL and its direct and indirect subsidiaries, Satyam said in a filing to the stock exchanges. Satyam shares surged by 8.43 per cent to close at Rs 54.05 on BSE. This move makes FIL, which earlier held 3.17 per cent stake, the second-largest stakeholder in Satyam after Larsen & Toubro (L&T), which currently has a 12.04 per cent stake in the IT company.
R Shankar Raman, executive vice-president (finance), L&T, told analysts in Mumbai today that the company has invested a total of Rs 650-670 crore in Satyam till date. Around 4.48 per cent stake in the company was acquired through L&T Capital. Later, L&T directly acquired below 8 per cent stake. The company had begun purchasing Satyam stock since December 2008.
"The company has a pool to make investments and will make investments depending on both organic and inorganic opportunities. However, we have neither allocated nor earmarked any specific amount for Satyam," clarified Raman. The company has an outstanding cash and cash equivalent worth Rs 4,500 crore in books.
J P Nayak, president (machinery & industrial products), L&T, explained, "What happens in the case of Satyam will be decided by the Satyam board and not by L&T. Since we don't know the Satyam board's decision, we cannot comment on increasing stake or further investments in the company."
This paper has reported that in the first official acknowledgment of L&T’s interest in taking over Satyam, the Department of Corporate Affairs (DCA) said in a note, written in the last week of January, to the finance ministry that L&T Chairman A M Naik has expressed interest in acquiring a sufficient stake in Satyam to take management control.
Maytas Infra board meets
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Earlier in the day, there were confirmed reports that Maytas Infra's wholetime director and President (transportation, oil and gas) Chander Sheel Bansal has resigned from the company. However, the company issued a statement later that he would continue on the board in the same position. The company management met today at a short notice and appointed B Narasimha Rao as additional director with effect from today. It also accepted the resignation of independent director and Chairman R C Sinha and wholetime director and CEO P K Madhav.
HC defers hearing of Sebi plea
Incidentally, hearing on the writ petition filed by Sebi in the Andhra Pradesh High Court seeking to record the statements of Satyam founder B Ramalinga Raju and his brother Rama Raju, has been postponed to February 9. The high court, though, has said it would issue a notice to the superintendent of Chanchalguda jail, where the Raju brothers are lodged, to ask both of them to respond to the Sebi plea.
The Nampally court has returned the application filed by Serious Fraud Investigation Office seeking permission to record the statements of Raju brothers and former Chief Financial Officer Srinivas Vadlamani citing non-maintainability of the plea.
Meanwhile, V S Raju, director on the board of Hyderabad-based Nagarjuna Construction, announced his resignation.
Two PILs were also filed in the high court in the day in connection with the fraud. An advocate, Soubhagya Lakshmi, filed a PIL, seeking judicial Inquiry into the activities of the beleaguered IT company and the two Maytas firms promoted by the Raju family. Another PIL was filed by P Narayana Reddy of Kadapa district challenging the allotment of Rs 121 crore of road works to Maytas.
Infra by the state government on a nomination basis.
The government pleader told the court that this decision was being reconsidered. The high court bench comprising justices A R Dave and Ranganathan said the case would be taken up for hearing two weeks later if the government did not withdrew its order by then.
Also, V S Raju, director on the board of Hyderabad-based Nagarjuna Construction, announced his resignation. He was a former director of IIT Delhi and also one of the directors of Satyam when it made an abortive bid to acquire the two Maytas firms. Along with former Cabinet Secretary TR Prasad, he remained with the company till the Centre superseded the Satyam board and inducted new members.
FIRM continues to be Bombardier’s vendor
Amid reports that big clients of scam-tainted Satyam Computer may move work to other vendors, Bombardier, one of the top 30 clients of the IT major, today said it is continuing the existing contracts with the firm. In a letter to Satyam's Board member Tarun Das, Canada-based Bombardier said, "The company has always been very satisfied with the work of Satyam's 285 associates.”
We look forward to maintaining relationship with Satyam." The letter further added, "In these times of uncertainty, we strongly support the Indian government's measure to provide continuity and stability to Satyam. We hope that the government will make sure that the human capital and assets involved in the engineering centre will be preserved."
IOB HAS around Rs 92-cr exposure to Maytas
Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) has said its exposure to Maytas Infrastructure, the subsidiary of IT major Satyam, is around Rs 92 crore as on January 2009. IOB will be the first Chennai-based bank to report this. Bank's Chairman and Managing Director on Friday said the bank is dealing with the infrastructure company for the last four years and the lending started from Rs 50 crore and as on January 30, 2009 it is around Rs 90 crore. He did not comment anything further.