iGate may not bid for Satyam at current market price: Murthy
16 Mar 2009
US-based outsourcing company iGate today said it would not go for Satyam Computer at its current market price and that it needs more clarity on the financials and liabilities of the farud-hit IT firm before going for the final bidding.
Satyam is valued at Rs3,049 crore at Monday's closing price of Rs45.30 a share against its earlier price of around Rs40 a share, the company said, adding that Satym's real value is continuously getting eroded.
"We have heard that customers and employees of (Satyam) were leaving and are concerned about the value erosion. The January and February numbers may not necessarily capture the future impact of customer loss in those months. Hence, I believe the estimate of 2009 revenue outlook is an important piece of information to have, especially in this current slowdown environment", he said.
iGate joined the fray for acquiring Satyam after dithering for some time. Murthy said he is yet to even take a call if at all iGate would bid.
"If I don't get the fresh set of financial information, including the January and February numbers, I would not be interested in bidding. If we get the full financial information, we need to study and understand the extent of liabilities for us to take a call on whether we want to take it forward", he said.
"From the information that we have gathered, I think our bid will be lower than the current market price. But we will have more clarity once we have access to the new financial numbers and once we have studied and analysed the fresh set of numbers, including the extent of liabilities," Murthy said.
Besides iGate, engineering giant L&T, IT firm Tech Mahindra and Spice Group have submitted their expressions of interest for acquiring 51 per cent in Satyam.
Satyam Board, meanwhile, is believed to have laid down some new norms for the winner of the bid, including no sale of the company's assets for three years, no pledging of shares to raise debt, no sudden lay-off of employees and immediate infusion of cash into the company.
