India's Spice Group ready to put $408 million in Satyam
NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India's Spice Group is ready to invest about 20 billion rupees ($408 million) in Satyam Computer Services (SATY.BO) and wants to buy a 51 percent stake in the fraud-scarred outsourcer, Spice Chairman B.K. Modi said.
"That is our desire," Modi told Reuters on Friday. "We want the money to go inside the company. For that they will have to make a preferential issue. If I buy shares from the market, the money will not go into the company."
Modi said the group had submitted on Thursday its proposal to the government-appointed new board of Satyam.
"We have also talked to two, three board members informally."
Spice Group has diversified operations including mobile handset manufacturing, mobile software development, back-office operations, entertainment and retail.
Last year, it sold its mobile telecoms services business to Idea Cellular (IDEA.BO) for 21.76 billion rupees.
"That is one of the sources (for funding). But we have other channels," Modi said, adding that the group was capable to fund a possible deal internally.
($1=49 rupees)
(Reporting by Devidutta Tripathy; Editing by Ranjit Gangadharan)
