Satyam eyes funding as L&T says no rescue offered
HYDERABAD, India (Reuters) - Indian engineering and construction firm Larsen & Toubro Ltd denied it would present a rescue plan to Satyam Computer Services Ltd, as the fraud-hit company sought emergency funding.
Larsen was a front-runner to buy the Hyderabad-based outsourcer, the Business Standard said, adding Satyam's institutional investors such as Life Insurance Corp and ICICI Prudential Life Insurance backed a bid.
A spokesman for L&T on Thursday denied media reports that the company would present a rescue plan to Satyam's board. "This is totally incorrect. We are not making any presentation. L&T is refuting all these media reports," D. Morada told Reuters.
Satyam, India's fourth-largest software services exporter, has been battling for survival since founder Ramalinga Raju resigned as chairman earlier this month, revealing profits had been falsified for years and $1 billion of cash on the books did not exist.
Larsen, which holds about 4 percent in Satyam, had said it may look for an alliance with the software services exporter once the company's accounts had been fully investigated.
The Economic Times, citing investment banking and government sources, said Larsen would put a price on its bid once KPMG and Deloitte, Satyam's new auditors, released restated results.
The Economic Times said telecoms software firm Tech Mahindra Ltd, part of Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd, was also a strong contender to take control of Satyam.
India's federal corporate affairs minister has said several companies were interested in acquiring Satyam.
Separately, Maytas Infra Ltd, a building firm founded by Raju's family, said the Serious Fraud Investigation Office was investigating its accounts, delaying its quarterly results beyond a January 31 deadline.
On Thursday, a Hyderbad court extended the police custody for questioning of Raju and the company's former CFO until Friday afternoon, while Rama Raju, Raju's brother and Satyam's ex-managing director, was sent back to jail.
During the hearing on extending police custody, public prosecutor K. Ajay Kumar told the court that Satyam had only 40,000 employees, not the 53,000 it claimed, and the non-existent employees were used to transfer funds from the company.
Kumar said investigators had found fixed-deposit statements and other bank documents were forged, and needed time to find if money had been used for land purchases.
Defence lawyer Bharat Kumar told the court the prosecutor's claims were false, and argued against the extension of police custody.
BOARD TALKS
Satyam's new, six-member, government-appointed board began a two-day meeting on Thursday to look at how to secure emergency funding to tide the company over following the country's biggest corporate scandal. Continued...
