L & T,
Tech Mahindra, Spice put in EoI fro Satyam, Hinduja pull put.
The last date declared to register for Stayam
bidding was 5 P.M. 12th March, 2009. expression of Interest have been submitted by Larsen and Toubro,
Tech Mahindra, and Spice Group before the expiry of the stipulated time.
The other party Hinduja Brothers has pulled out of the race citing the reason of Satyam’s legal liabilities due to fraud done by its past chairman Ramalinga Raju. This liability could be to the tune of US $ 840 millions. Officials from Hindujas said that they are not interested with Satyam even they get it free. They opined that the sale process of satyam should have been taken after restating its accounts and settling its legal liabilities.
However, they also said, “We would rather wait for the restated accounts and status of legal liabilities of the company. That is why we did not register today.”
As far as L & T is concerned, this is the one, which is in the forefront of showing interest of taking over Satyam. It has already acquired 12% stake from the market. Its IT division is not that big, and this is the opportunity it wants to utilize to make them one of the top players in this field. Being the most successful company in the field of construction, finance is not a problem for them. L & T chairman Mr. Nayek is keen to take over Satyam in this scenario.
The official deadline has been set March 20th for submitting bid and proof of adequate funds.
The beleaguered company after the exit of Ramalinga Raju is in the news continuously. Raju manipulated account books with whims and authority, and fooled the entire spectrum of investors. He has shown fictional cash balance of more than Rs. 7000 crores that is under severe scrutiny at the moment. In spite of getting the audit done by renowned Pricewater, it is beyond anybody’s guess how things went on for so long in this way.
The new board of directors will meet tomorrow to scrutinize all EoI submitted by companies with interest to take Satyam.