Larsen & Toubro is in talks with private equity firms such as Blackstone and The Carlyle Group, Goldman Sachs, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co and Singapore's Temasek, to jointly bid for 51 per cent stake in Satyam Computer Services, reports citing sources close to the development said.

The engineering and construction major, however, refused to confirm the reports, saying those are purely speculative.

The reports also said in case L&T opts to bid jointly with private equity firms, it would also look at the option of  setting up a special purpose vehicle to be jointly owned by L&T and the selected private equity fund.

In that case, L&T Infotech will not make the bid, as it has been speculated in some quarters.

L&T, which already owns 12 per cent in Satyam Computer Services, is among a number of firms – both domestic and international - that have expressed interest in the fraud-hit IT firm.

US outsourcer iGate has tied up with a private equity firm to bid for a controlling stake in New York-listed Satyam. Software services firm Tech Mahindra and diversified Spice Corporation are also in the race for Satyam Computer.

Media report, meanwhile, said around 46 customers of Satyam had moved their outsourcing contracts to rival firms such as Tata Consultancy Services, Wipro, IBM and Accenture since the Rs7,000 crore corporate fraud was uncovered.

Companies like Applied Materials Inc, Telstra Corp, Nissan Motor Co and Sony Corp had either moved out their projects or are in the process of shifting to other outsourcers, the paper quoted a sources close to the developments.

Nissan sources in  Tokyo said the automaker's North American unit continues to do business with Satyam and has no plans at the moment to terminate its contract with the Indian outsourcer.

Satyam won a multi-million dollar deal in 2006 to manage Nissan's business applications for the North American market.

Neither Sony nor Telestra commented on the report.