US investor Wilbur Ross has been named as the latest bidder for
troubled IT service provider, Satyam Computer Services.
Ross, a billionaire know for restructuring failed companies, is
one of four bidders expected to take part in an auction for Satayam
on Monday, according to the
Financial Times.
The other three bidders are expected to be US outsourcing
company Cognizant Technology Solutions and Indian engineering firm
Larsen & Toubro, and IT services firm Tech Mahindra.
Other companies that have shown interest in buying Satyam
include IBM, Hewlett-Packard, CSC, and the Spice Group.
The bidders have conducted due diligence and are expected to
file formal bids on Monday, when there will
almost certainly be an announcement on Satayam's acquisition,
according to a company spokesman.
The company has been up for sale since the Indian government
appointed a board to stabilise Satyam after its former chairman B
Ramalinga Raju admitted to cooking the books.
India's federal police yesterday formally charged Raju along
with two of his brothers, two Price Waterhouse auditors and four
others with criminal conspiracy.
Price Waterhouse India said it was a victim of Raju's fraud that
was designed to circumvent the audit firm's processes.
Raju admitted in January that he had
falsely reported the company's results for years.