US IT services provider iGate has expressed aninterest in buying
Satyam public.It is waiting to see financial data from the
fraud-hit Indian company before moving forward.
Will IBM, HP and CSC who have all been tipped as interested in
Satyam, follow ?
The first deadline in the
Satyam sale ended yesterday,with reports of up to eight
interested parties and at least one Western firm requesting
financial data on the fraud-hit firm.
Four companies,includingthree non-IT suppliers,have announced
their interest. They are Indian engineering giant Larsen &
Toubro, the Spice Group, Tech Mahindra and
US IT supplier iGate.A Satyam spokesman said details of the
interested parties will be given next week.
The bidders will not see the full audited accounts, but
shortlisted bidders will be given access to business, financial and
legal diligence materials. They will have to sign a non-disclosure
agreement to qualify.
Former Satyam chairman, B. Ramalinga Raju, admitted in January
that he had
falsely reported the company's results. This left the company
short of cash and its customers short of confidence.
iGate said in a statement: "[We are] now expecting to receive
the latest financial statements, including those for the quarter
ended December 2008 and the months of January and February 2009,
and updated position on liabilities and potential liabilities of
the company. In the event of iGate not receiving this information
immediately, it has no option but to withdraw its expression of
interest."
Satyam nowrequires more detailed expressions of interest and
proof from bidders of available funds to the value of $290m by 20
March 2009.
Phil Morris, European managing director at sourcing consultant
Equaterra, said the buyer does not necessarily have to be a
recognised IT company.
"For example, an engineering company could fit because this type
of company hasgone down a software and consultancy route in the
past. Although I would not say this is an easy fit."
He added that a company such as IBM would be in a good position
to lift Satyam back to where it was before the fraud scandal.