Satyam winner may be named on April 13

Hyderabad, April 4 The Satyam board has extended the deadline to submit technical and financial bids to April 13 from April 9 with the bidders seeking more information on the company, according to Satyam board member Mr Deepak Parekh.

The board is expected to complete the process and announce the name of the successful bidder the same day in Mumbai.

“Additional data on Satyam’s top-line and customer information updated up to February-end is being made available to the bidders through the virtual data rooms. Since the Satyam incident unfolded in December and January, bidders were keen on status of top-line, new projects and cancellations updated up to February-end,” a senior official involved in the bidding process said.

“They sought more time to assimilate the information and finalise their proposal to acquire the controlling stake,” sources close to the development said.

The board would rank the bidders, whose technical bids are found to be satisfactory, based on their price tag they carried.

If there is no other bid which is at least 90 per cent of the highest bidder, the highest bidder would be declared the winner.

The second round would be necessitated only when there are at least one or more bids that are 90 per cent of the highest bid. The successful bidder would be picked in an open auction, then.

The top bidder will be given two-four days’ time to deposit the money for 31 per cent stake, and an open offer would follow thereafter.

The board seems to be keen on completing the bidding process, at the earliest. “This is important, as there is always a worry that a delay or any uncertainty may take a toll on the customers of Satyam, or its employees,” an industry observer said.

Spice board meets

Meanwhile, Spice Group said it would decide, late tonight, its strategy for Satyam. “We have our board meeting later tonight to take a call on Satyam,” the Spice Group Chairman, Dr B.K. Modi, said. The Group had pulled out of the bidding process last week citing “transparency issues”.

Among others things, it demanded an open auction’ for Satyam. Earlier this week, the Satyam board clarified that an open auction would be conducted for Satyam only for second and subsequent rounds of financial bidding.