sathyam news

Hindujas join race for Satyam

The number of suitors for the beleaguered Satyam Computer is increasing as Hinduja Global Solutions, an arm of the Hinduja Group, has evinced interest in acquiring the troubled IT company.
Company officials told PTI that HGSL has sent a formal communication to Goldman Sachs, the newly-appointed investmentbanker for Satyam, saying that it is keen to participate in the bidding process as and when it starts.
The company has over 100 million dollars in books and if required promoters Hindujas would also chip in, the officialssaid.
The Satyam board, which is meeting on February 5, is likely to take stock of such proposals. With HGSL joining the race, the parties in race for the scam-hit company has increased to three. Engineering giant L&T and diversified group Spice Group are the other two.
Officials of iGate, which had earlier evinced interest, said the company would only be able take a call on sending theformal proposal after the restated financial figures are out.'Till then we would wait and watch,' they said.
Meanwhile, an alternative asset management firm Kolbert Kravis Roberts and private equity firm Texas Pacific Partners (TPG) were non-committal on their interests in Satyam A KKR spokesperson said, 'As a matter of company policy we never comment on enquiries or speculative market rumours of this nature.'
A TPG spokesperson also said, 'We will have no comment here.' Tarun Das, a member of the government appointed Satyamboard had earlier said that many private equity players had approached the board of the company.One of the suitors, L&T, has already increased its stake in Satyam to 12 per cent from over four per cent earlier, while asset management firm Fidelity upped its stake in Satyam to 7.66 per cent. Both the companies raised their stake in the IT firm through open market transactions.
The other suitor Spice Group, which has made a formal bid for the scam-hit Satyam Computers, wants auction route for theacquisition of the company as the chairman B K Modi feels auction is the most transparent way.
'I don't want a negotiated deal. We want auction of the company as that is the most transparent method to decide on the valuation. We want to enter the company through the preferential route.
'Auction can take care of the legal liabilities that is attached to the company which is in a bad shape,' Modi told PTI adding his company which has Rs 2000 crore in cash to infuse into the company, but does not want to enter Satyam through open market.He said the company expects to get a response from the board of Satyam on Monday. He said the Satyam needs a strong leadership and in the present circumstances the IT firm would not be able raise loans and it needs direct cash infusion which we can provide straight away.
Modi had earlier sold his telecom company Spice Communications to Idea Cellular for Rs 2,700 crore. Satyam has run into crisis following its founder B Ramalinga Raju's confessions that he inflated company's account books for many years to the tune of Rs 7,800 crore. Following the revelation, its board has been disbanded and the government appointed a six-member board to steer the company out of trouble.
Multiple agencies are now probing into Satyam fraud.

SATHYAM

Hyderabad: The government-appointed six-member Satyam Board met today in Hyderabad, and is expected to discuss having a strategic partner to steer the company forward among other issues confronting the company since the Rs 7,800 crore fraud came to light.
The board also will decide on the funding arrangements to ensure scheduled payments, including salaries and vendor fees, for the next two months, till the end of March 2009. The board said in a release last Friday it had short-listed three candidates for the post of CEO and it expected to take a final look at it at the next meeting, which is today.
Although the board had said that it will meet for two days -- January 26 and 27 -- in its release last Friday, it decided to meet formally today since January 26 was Republic Day, company sources said.
The six-member board comprises noted banker Deepak Parekh, former President of NASSCOM Kiran Karnik, former SEBImember C Achuthan, CII mentor Tarun Das, former President of ICAI T N Manoharan and SB Mainak.
Even as the government said the board members will elect the Chairperson, the board decided to continue without a headand give opportunity to every member to preside over the meeting by rotation. Tarun Das chaired last week's meeting.PTI

parek join sathyam

New Delhi, Jan 11 Moving quickly to stabilise the fraud-devastated Satyam Computer, the government today nominated noted banker Deepak Parekh, IT expert Kiran Karnik and former SEBI member C Achutan to the IT company's Board.
The three-member board would meet within 24 hours to decide on the remaining up to seven members along with the Chairman, Corporate Affairs Minister Prem Chand Gupta told reporters in a hurriedly called press conference two days after disbanding the truncated Satyam Board.
On the demand by institutional investors like LIC and Lazard for a representation on the Board, Gupta said, 'All options are open in the interest of the company.' The board would have eminent personalities from finance, law, IT and administration, Gupta said.
Gupta said that more members to the board would be nominated only if needed.
Asked about the priorities before the board, HDFC Chairman Deepak Parekh told PTI over telephone, 'The first priority would be to meet as soon as possible... we will have to clear the mess.'
'I'm yet to talk to the other members,' Parekh said. Karnik, former President of NASSCOM, also said that the three newly named board members would meet as soon as possible and that the first priority is the arrangement of an operational management.
'We are trying to ensure that India continues to be safe, secure and reliable destination for IT services,' he said.
Related Stories:
Government moves to clean up Satyam mess
New Delhi (IANS): The Indian government swung into action Saturday to deal with the perpetrators of the Satyam's Rs.70-billion (Rs.7,000-crore) accounting scam, while the market regulator said it would seek the court's permission to question the company's founder.
On a day of quick developments, Satyam founder and former chairman B. Ramalinga Raju and his brother B. Rama Raju, who were arrested Friday night, were sent to jail till Jan 23.
On Saturday evening, Satyam's former chief financial officer Vadlamani Srinivas was also arrested. He will be produced before a magistrate Sunday.
Market regulator Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI) will now seek permission of the magistrate to record Ramalinga Raju's statement in Hyderabad Monday.
SEBI chairman C.B. Bhave also met Corporate Affairs Minister P.C. Gupta here Saturday evening to discuss the ongoing investigations into the scam, a ministry official said.
'The ministry and SEBI are jointly probing the Satyam scandal. Bhave has met the minister to discuss the developments that have unfolded of late,' he added.
A SEBI team has been probing the fraud since Thursday and has checked the books of accounts at Satyam offices in Hyderabad.
Earlier Saturday, the VI Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate in Hyderabad sent the disgraced Raju brothers to jail till Jan 23. They will be lodged in Chanchalguda jail in the old city of Hyderabad.
The brothers have been charged with cheating, criminal conspiracy, forgery and criminal breach of trust, among others, after being grilled by the state's Criminal Investigation Department (CID) officers for over three hours Friday night.
The magistrate rejected their lawyer's plea to permit Ramalinga Raju to get admitted to a hospital in view of his ill-health.
'Please permit my client to be admitted to a hospital,' lawyer S. Bharat Kumar pleaded. He will now move court Monday for bail.
The government had intervened Friday to supersede the Satyam board. Announcing this, company affairs minister Gupta had said at a press conference: 'The government should be allowed to appoint 10 nominee directors for the company. The new board has to meet within the next seven days.
'The Company Law Board has already issued an order to the existing directors of the board restraining them from exercising their functions and the order becomes effective immediately,' the minister had added.
Meanwhile, in Chennai, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) said auditing firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), which had certified the accounts of Satyam Computer Services as 'true and fair', is bound to disclose all facts and cannot hide under the client confidentiality clause.
'The confession of accounting fraud of a huge magnitude is an extraordinary situation. The auditor who certified the company's accounts or the firm in which he is a partner cannot hide under client confidentiality clause,' V. Murali, a member of ICAI's central council of, told IANS.
ICAI's Financial Reporting Review Board has issued a notice to PwC asking for details of the auditors who certified the accounts. The board will also look at Satyam's audit systems and practices.
Satyam's last balance sheet was certified by Srinivas Talluri and the 2006-07 accounts by S. Gopalakrishnan, both PwC partners.
'We have also called for the working papers. Checking the audit working sheets as how bank reconciliation statement was prepared will throw more light on the accounting fraud,' Murali said.
Incidentally, two PwC partners, Harinderjit Singh and Gopalakrishnan, are members of ICAI's central council.
CID grills Ramalinga Raju, brother
Hyderabad, Jan 10 (IANS) Sleuths of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of Andhra Pradesh police Saturday grilled disgraced former Satyam Computer Services chairman B. Ramalinga Raju and his brother and former company managing director B. Rama Raju in connection with a Rs.70 billion (1.43 billion) fraud in the company.
Inspector General of Police (Economic Offences Wing) V.S.K. Kaumudi and other CID officials interrogated them throughout the night, police sources said here Saturday.
Ramalinga Raju's lawyer S. Bharat Kumar told reporters that the two were questioned for over three hours.
Ramalinga Raju, who founded India's fourth largest IT firm, reportedly complained of uneasiness during the interrogation and police called a doctor to have him examined.
The CID officials questioned Ramalinga Raju about the confession he made in his statement Wednesday while resigning as chairman of the company.
The sources said the CID was trying to collect evidence that can be produced before the court while seeking their custody later in the day. Since the courts are closed on account of holiday, the accused may be produced before a magistrate at his residence.
Since Ramalinga Raju is a diabetic and has high blood pressure, his lawyer may request the magistrate to order police to render necessary medical assistance by admitting him to a hospital.
The brothers, arrested on charges of cheating and forgery after admission of inflated and non-existent revenues in accounts, spent the night in custody at the Andhra Pradesh police headquarters.
Police officer Kaumudi said the former Satyam bosses were booked under non-bailable sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the punishment could be up to 10 years.
Kaumudi told reporters late Friday night that both the accused would be produced before a magistrate within 24 hours.
Legal experts said the accused were not likely to get bail, at least for 14 days. Ramalinga Raju's counsel said a bail petition would be moved after they were produced in court.
Amid high drama, Ramalinga Raju and his brother accompanied by their lawyer drove to the police headquarters around 10 p.m. Friday to surrender but the CID officials arrested them to show that they were taking tough action.
Director General of Police S.S.P. Yadav told IANS that the state police arrested Ramalinga Raju and Rama Raju on charges of 'criminal breach of trust, criminal conspiracy, cheating, falsification of records and forgery'.
A few minutes before the Rajus surrendered to police, CID had booked a criminal case against them.
The police sources said the case was registered on a complaint by Leela Mangat, a Satyam shareholder. The former bank employee complained that she held 200 shares in Satyam and lost heavily due to Ramalinga Raju's action.
Ever since Ramalinga Raju admitted the massive fraud in the company Wednesday, police had been maintaining that they could arrest him only if somebody lodges a complaint. His whereabouts had also not been known.
Kaumudi said the arrest did not preclude investigations being carried out against the accused by the Registrar of Companies and market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).
SEBI had Friday served summons on Ramalinga Raju and his lawyer had said that he would appear before SEBI officials at 4 p.m. Saturday. Following the arrest, the SEBI team is now likely to question him while he is in CID custody.
Ramalinga Raju's lawyer told reporters that SEBI would have to seek permission from the court to interrogate him.
The SEBI team has been conducting the probe into the fraud since Thursday. It checked the books of accounts at Satyam offices here.
Meanwhile, the police sources said the CID might also arrest Vadlamani Srinivas, who resigned as chief financial officer (CFO) Thursday. The whereabouts of Srinivas is not known.
Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy had ordered probe by CID Wednesday to 'look at the criminal angle into the entire episode'.
The CID stepped up investigations following criticism by opposition parties that the Congress government was soft towards Ramalinga Raju.
Satyam's Raju, brother arrested
Hyderabad (IANS): The Andhra Pradesh police Friday night arrested disgraced former founder-chairman of Satyam Computers B. Ramalinga Raju and his brother and former company managing director B. Rama Raju on charges of cheating and forgery.
The Crime Investigation Department (CID) of the state police arrested Ramalinga Raju and Rama Raju on charges of 'criminal breach of trust, criminal conspiracy, cheating, falsification of records and forgery', Director General of Police S.S.P. Yadav told IANS.
The two brothers accompanied by their lawyer S. Bharat Kumar reached the state police headquarters and surrendered before the police. They were interrogated by CID personnel for some time before being arrested.
Their move came after a criminal case was registered against them by the CID in the Rs.70 billion financial fraud in the company.
The case was registered under the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
The CID sleuths will interrogate the two to ascertain the veracity of Ramalinga Raju's shocking admission Wednesday of being behind the fraud. They are likely to be produced before a magistrate either late in the night or on Saturday morning.
Raju quit as chairman Wednesday while admitting that the company cooked its books resulting in an 'inflated (non-existent) cash and bank balances' over several years. His brother Rama Raju has also quit as managing director.
They had remained untraced ever since they sent their resignations to Satyam board.
Their surrender and subsequent arrest by the CID came hours after Ramalinga Raju's lawyer told reporters that he would appear before market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) on Saturday.
Meanwhile, police sources said the CID might also arrest Vadlamani Srinivas, who resigned as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) on Thursday. The whereabouts of Srinivas is not known.
The Rajus were arrested hours after CID began the probe. Earlier in the day, a team of CID officials verified records at Satyam's headquarters here and spoke to a few employees.
Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy had ordered probe by CID on Wednesday to 'look at the criminal angle into the entire episode'.
The CID stepped up investigations amid criticism by opposition parties that the Congress government was soft towards Ramalinga Raju.

latest news ramalingam

Ramalinga Raju: From Andhra's pride to disgrace

Satyam was the brand image of Andhra Pradesh, Hyderabad was identified with this company, and its founder-chairman B. Ramalinga Raju was a hero to youngsters. But overnight, arguably the biggest fraud in India's corporate history has reduced the chairman and his company to a big zero.
The man who spent three decades in IT services and built Satyam into India's fourth largest IT services firm, was described as a visionary, a global business leader and a thinker. Now, the angry shareholders want him to be put behind bars.
Ramalinga Raju resigned as the company chairman Wednesday after confessing to a Rs.40 billion ($823 million) fraud that was going on for years.
Even when crisis hit Satyam following the management's aborted bid to acquire Maytas Infra and Maytas Properties, the two infrastructure companies owned by the promoters' family, Ramalinga Raju's wellwishers launched a website to repose faith in his leadership.
Having made a humble beginning to rise to the dizzy heights of success and become one of the richest Indians, Ramalinga Raju was described as the pride of Andhra Pradesh and the pride of Telugus.
He was born to a farmer B. Satyanarayana Raju in Garagaparru village in West Godavari district of coastal Andhra Pradesh Sep 16, 1954. Satyanarayana Raju moved to Hyderabad in the 1960s.
Ramalinga Raju did his B.Com from Andhra Loyola College in Vijayawada and went to the US in 1975 for MBA degree from Ohio University. He is also an alumnus of Harvard Business School.
He first ventured into construction and textiles business before moving over to IT.
He founded Satyam in 1987 and was so influenced by his father that he named the company after him. It was a humble beginning for Satyam with only 20 employees. Satyam Computer Services Ltd was incorporated in 1989 and it went public in 1992.
Satyam later became one of the earliest companies to get a dedicated data link for offshore development.
Through his managerial skills and quality leadership, Ramalinga Raju built Satyam into a multinational company and bagged several key contracts, especially from the US.
Satyam began trading on New York Stock Exchange in 2001. With each passing year, Satyam strengthened its position and extended its operations to various locations.
Ramalinga Raju's foray into corporate data and internet services too was path breaking. He founded Satyam Infoway or Sify and listed it on Nasdaq with great success. The business process outsourcing (BPO) wing of Satyam also made a remarkable beginning.
The company, whose revenues crossed $2 billion in 2007-08, became the first Indian company to list its American Depository Shares (ADS) on Euronext, which is one single cross-border trading platform of NYSE Euronext Group.
A soft-spoken Ramalinga Raju received several awards during his career, including Ernst & Young entrepreneur of the years 1999 and 2007, Andhra Pradesh Academy of Sciences medal 1999, Dataquest IT man of the year 2000, CNBC Asian Business leader - corporate citizen of the year award 2002, Hyderabad Management Association life time achievement award 2006, and honorary doctorate by Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University 2006.
He was elected to several organisations, including the National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom), the apex forum of the Indian IT industry.
Ramalinga Raju, married to Nandini, has two sons and a daughter. His sons Teja B. Raju and Rama B. Raju are running Maytas Infrastructure and Maytas Properties.
The man who was once described as pride of Telugus, is today the target of their wrath.
'Ramalinga Raju was a hero till the last quarter of 2008 but today he is a zero. I was one of his biggest fans but today I am very upset,' said Harish Chandra Prasad, vice-chairman of the Confederation of Indian Industry, Andhra Pradesh.

raju brother arrsested

Hyderabad (IANS): The Andhra Pradesh police Friday night arrested disgraced former founder-chairman of Satyam Computers B. Ramalinga Raju and his brother and former company managing director B. Rama Raju on charges of cheating and forgery.
The Crime Investigation Department (CID) of the state police arrested Ramalinga Raju and Rama Raju on charges of 'criminal breach of trust, criminal conspiracy, cheating, falsification of records and forgery', Director General of Police S.S.P. Yadav told IANS.
The two brothers accompanied by their lawyer S. Bharat Kumar reached the state police headquarters and surrendered before the police. They were interrogated by CID personnel for some time before being arrested.
Their move came after a criminal case was registered against them by the CID in the Rs.70 billion financial fraud in the company.
The case was registered under the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
The CID sleuths will interrogate the two to ascertain the veracity of Ramalinga Raju's shocking admission Wednesday of being behind the fraud. They are likely to be produced before a magistrate either late in the night or on Saturday morning.
Raju quit as chairman Wednesday while admitting that the company cooked its books resulting in an 'inflated (non-existent) cash and bank balances' over several years. His brother Rama Raju has also quit as managing director.
They had remained untraced ever since they sent their resignations to Satyam board.
Their surrender and subsequent arrest by the CID came hours after Ramalinga Raju's lawyer told reporters that he would appear before market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) on Saturday.
Meanwhile, police sources said the CID might also arrest Vadlamani Srinivas, who resigned as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) on Thursday. The whereabouts of Srinivas is not known.
The Rajus were arrested hours after CID began the probe. Earlier in the day, a team of CID officials verified records at Satyam's headquarters here and spoke to a few employees.
Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy had ordered probe by CID on Wednesday to 'look at the criminal angle into the entire episode'.
The CID stepped up investigations amid criticism by opposition parties that the Congress government was soft towards Ramalinga Raju.

sahyam news

Satyam hails government move to appoint new board

Hyderabad, Jan 10 (IANS) Scam-tainted IT bellwether Satyam Computer Services Ltd late Friday welcomed the central government's move to appoint 10 nominees as directors to replace the current board.
'We welcome this decision which will ensure uninterrupted operations and restore the confidence of all employees, customers and shareholders across the globe,' the Hyderabad-based company said in a statement.
In view of the government superseding the truncated board comprising two independent directors (T.S. Prasad and V.S. Raju) and whole-time director Ram Mynampati, who is also an interim chief executive, the company has cancelled the board meeting re-scheduled for Saturday.
The new board is expected to meet within seven days of its constitution.
Mynampati has written to market regulator SEBI, the company law board, the IT secretary of the Andhra Pradesh government, IT trade representative body Nasscom and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) for recommendations to nominate the independent directors.

SATHYAM COMPUTER NEWS

Ramalinga Raju: From Andhra's pride to disgrace

Satyam was the brand image of Andhra Pradesh, Hyderabad was identified with this company, and its founder-chairman B. Ramalinga Raju was a hero to youngsters. But overnight, arguably the biggest fraud in India's corporate history has reduced the chairman and his company to a big zero.
The man who spent three decades in IT services and built Satyam into India's fourth largest IT services firm, was described as a visionary, a global business leader and a thinker. Now, the angry shareholders want him to be put behind bars.
Ramalinga Raju resigned as the company chairman Wednesday after confessing to a Rs.40 billion ($823 million) fraud that was going on for years.
Even when crisis hit Satyam following the management's aborted bid to acquire Maytas Infra and Maytas Properties, the two infrastructure companies owned by the promoters' family, Ramalinga Raju's wellwishers launched a website to repose faith in his leadership.
Having made a humble beginning to rise to the dizzy heights of success and become one of the richest Indians, Ramalinga Raju was described as the pride of Andhra Pradesh and the pride of Telugus.
He was born to a farmer B. Satyanarayana Raju in Garagaparru village in West Godavari district of coastal Andhra Pradesh Sep 16, 1954. Satyanarayana Raju moved to Hyderabad in the 1960s.
Ramalinga Raju did his B.Com from Andhra Loyola College in Vijayawada and went to the US in 1975 for MBA degree from Ohio University. He is also an alumnus of Harvard Business School.
He first ventured into construction and textiles business before moving over to IT.
He founded Satyam in 1987 and was so influenced by his father that he named the company after him. It was a humble beginning for Satyam with only 20 employees. Satyam Computer Services Ltd was incorporated in 1989 and it went public in 1992.
Satyam later became one of the earliest companies to get a dedicated data link for offshore development.
Through his managerial skills and quality leadership, Ramalinga Raju built Satyam into a multinational company and bagged several key contracts, especially from the US.
Satyam began trading on New York Stock Exchange in 2001. With each passing year, Satyam strengthened its position and extended its operations to various locations.
Ramalinga Raju's foray into corporate data and internet services too was path breaking. He founded Satyam Infoway or Sify and listed it on Nasdaq with great success. The business process outsourcing (BPO) wing of Satyam also made a remarkable beginning.
The company, whose revenues crossed $2 billion in 2007-08, became the first Indian company to list its American Depository Shares (ADS) on Euronext, which is one single cross-border trading platform of NYSE Euronext Group.
A soft-spoken Ramalinga Raju received several awards during his career, including Ernst & Young entrepreneur of the years 1999 and 2007, Andhra Pradesh Academy of Sciences medal 1999, Dataquest IT man of the year 2000, CNBC Asian Business leader - corporate citizen of the year award 2002, Hyderabad Management Association life time achievement award 2006, and honorary doctorate by Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University 2006.
He was elected to several organisations, including the National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom), the apex forum of the Indian IT industry.
Ramalinga Raju, married to Nandini, has two sons and a daughter. His sons Teja B. Raju and Rama B. Raju are running Maytas Infrastructure and Maytas Properties.
The man who was once described as pride of Telugus, is today the target of their wrath.
'Ramalinga Raju was a hero till the last quarter of 2008 but today he is a zero. I was one of his biggest fans but today I am very upset,' said Harish Chandra Prasad, vice-chairman of the Confederation of Indian Industry, Andhra Pradesh.
IANS