Satyam bidding to get under way soon: minister

02 March 2009

The scam-hit Satyam Computer Services will get a strategic investor in the next few weeks, union corporate affairs minister Prem Chand Gupta said on Sunday. He added that the government-appointed board of Satyam is working on a ''war footing'' to find a strategic investor to take over the beleaguered IT services firm.

However, the minister did not spell out a time-frame for completion of the bidding process or specify the companies that have expressed interest. Speaking at a stone-laying ceremony near Bangalore, he said Satyam would have to submit norms for the bidding process to the Company Law Board for approval. Once this is obtained, the bidding process can be started.

''We will follow a transparent international bidding process to select the strategic investor. Anybody can bid for Satyam subject to the guidelines laid down by the board. The entire bidding process is expected to be completed in a few weeks,'' he said. The minister made it clear that bidders for Satyam need not have prior experience in the technology sector.

The minister admitted that unravelling the fraud was a complex task for the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) and other agencies like the Registrar of Companies, the Securities and Exchange Board of India, the income-tax department, the Enforcement Directorate and the CBI.

Gupta said checking transactions and entries, which run into millions, needs a lot of time and effort, but repeated his statement in parliament that the SFIO is expected to complete the probe within 90 days. ''It is not proper to divulge details of the SFIO investigation at this point of time, but it is confident that Satyam fraud investigation can be concluded in the given time,'' he said.

Asked whether foreign players would be allowed to bid for Satyam, the minister said it was for the newly-appointed board to decide.