Maytas promoters pledge entire stake

07 February 2009

Maytas Infra Ltd, the firm run by the family of the founder of the disgraced Satyam Computer Services, said on Friday that three promoters have pledged their entire 15.14 per cent stake in the real estate company. Former Satyam chairman Ramalinga Raju has pledged his entire 8.25 per cent holding. The rest of the pledged shares belong to co-founders B Nandini Raju and B Rama Raju Jr.

The company could have been plunged into a crisis after C S Bansal, a full-time director on the board, stepped down last week. But this was averted with the appointment of B Narasimha Rao as an additional director to retain the number at three.

The two other members on the board are Teja Raju and an independent member, R P Raju.

According to one report, institutional lenders, led by IL&FS, have sought seats on the Maytas Infra board. Three institutional lenders - IL&FS, IFCI and the Maharashtra state-run Sicom - hold close to 30 per cent in the firm. Under the Companies Act, the government can appoint directors or additional directors to prevent mismanagement of a firm.

The scam at the IT services company began unfolding after a failed attempt in December last year by Satyam to acquire Maytas Infra and Maytas Properties, real estate firms run by Raju's sons. The Satyam board had approved a proposal to spend a total of $1.6 billion on the acquisitions - $1.3 billion for Maytas Properties and $300 million for Maytas Infra.

Vedanta trying to cheat, says Maytas
Meanwhile, Maytas Infra said in Hyderabad on Thursday that it has issued a legal notice to Vedanta Aluminum Limited (VAL) for "fraudulently and illegally cashing two bank guarantees worth Rs64 crore". According to a press statement, the bank guarantees were cashed by VAL on January 20. Maytas Infra has further charged VAL with not settling its bills, and claimed that VAL even illegally confined its employees for 10 days in Jharsuguda, Orissa.