THE BOARD of swindled Indian outsourcing giant Satyam said it has received an “adequate response” to its invitation for bids, as a newspaper said Saturday that IBM had joined the race.
The Economic Times said almost 130 companies had expressed interest in buying Satyam, including multinationals IBM, Fidelity Investments and buyout specialist KKR.
A Satyam spokeswoman declined to confirm the reports.
A statement on Satyam’s website said: “The process of registration of bidders has received adequate response from Indian and international bidders, including private equity firms.”
Four companies have publicly said they are interested in taking a 51 per cent stake in Satyam, which is at the heart of India’s biggest corporate deception.
They are Indian engineering giant Larsen & Toubro, which already has a 12 per cent stake in Satyam; the Spice Group conglomerate, which has telecommunications interests; Tech Mahindra, an arm of the diversified Mahindra Group; and Nasdaq-listed iGATE, a technology company.
Analysts expect only a few serious bidders to emerge.
IBM, KKR and Fidelity could not be reached for comment. IBM has said it does not comment on market speculation.
The confession by Raju, now in jail, has wiped around 1.7 billion dollars off the market value of Satyam’s shares and the board is anxious to restore market and client confidence in the company.
