Troubled IT service provider Satyam is about to announce
the name of its buyer with a 99% chance of an announcement on
Monday.
A company spokesman said there will almost certainly be an
announcement regarding its acquisition.
The company has been up for sale since the Indian government
appointed a board to stabilise Satyam after its former chairman
admitted to cooking the books.
Bidders said to have shown interested in buying Satyam include
western IT firms such as IBM, Hewlett-Packard and CSC, as well as
Indian companies such as engineering firm Larsen & Toubro
(L&T), IT services firm Tech Mahindra, and Spice Group, a
diversified conglomerate. More recently BRO services supplier
Cognizant has been linked with a late bid.
Phil Morris, managing director Europe at sourcing consultancy
Equaterra, said it is very important that the company gets the
takeover
sorted out as soon as possible. "It is very important to end
the uncertainty for their customers and their staff."
He said the staff are very important to the company, and that
continued uncertainty could lead to key delivery workers
leaving.
He said it is likely an Indian firm will buy Satyam.
Robert Morgan, director at Hamilton Bailey, which advices
outsourcing suppliers, said that the new owner will have its work
cut out reassuring customers that they should remain with Satyam
after contracts come up for renewal.
"I think a big Western supplier would be best placed to do this,
but my feeling now is that an Indian company will take over
Satyam."
The bidding process for the company started on 9 March, with
applications of interest requested to be in by 12 March. The
company then required more detailed expressions of interest and
proof from bidders of available funds to the value of $290m by 20
March.
Ramalinga Raju
admitted in January that he had falsely reported the company's
results for years. This left the company short of cash, its
customers short of confidence and staff morale low.