Satyam-linked Maytas in talks to restructure debt

Tue May 5, 2009 Maytas in talks to restructure $34 mln loan, shares rise

Govt-appointed board members say not ruling out stake sale

Order book at $1.7 bln, to recover $100 mln from customers

NEW DELHI, May 5 (Reuters) - Indian builder Maytas Infra Ltd , linked to the fraud-tainted founders of Satyam Computer is in talks to restructure $34 million loans, officials said on Tuesday, sending its shares up 5 percent.

"We are having a financial difficulty. Cash-in-hand may be there, but I have a liability also," Ved Jain, one of the four directors appointed by the government after it began a probe into Maytas, told a news conference.

The cash-strapped company is negotiating with its 17 lenders, including State Bank of India and ICICI Bank , to restructure its debt of 17 billion rupees ($34.5 million), he said.

Anil Agarwal, another director, said the board had approved a a corporate debt restructuring package. "In the next couple of weeks this will be on," he said.

The company will hire SBI Capital Markets to implement the restructuring, the officials said.