Share bid moves Satyam towards stability

INDIA-- Scandal-rocked IT, research and analytics services firm Satyam took a major step towards stability yesterday with the news that smaller rival firm Tech Mahindra would buy a controlling stake in the business.

Tech Mahindra will pay $351m for an initial 31% stake in the business, before buying at least a further 20% of shares on the open market at a price of $1.16 per share.

Satyam chairman Kiran Karnik said the news ought to dispel the “anxiety” all the company's stakeholders have felt since founder B. Ramalinga Raju confessed to a $1bn accounting fraud in January.

The company made its first steps into market research outsourcing last year with the purchase of construction equipment firm Caterpillar's MR division.

Author: Brian Tarran

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