Satyam Computer Services Ltd., the software provider at the centre of India's biggest corporate fraud inquiry, will announce the winning bid for the company on 13 April, new Satyam director and HDFC chairman Deepak Parekh said on Saturday. The financial bids will be opened at 9 am and the winning bid will be announced the same day.

Six suitors including engineering firm Larsen and Toubro, IT services firm Tech Mahindra, which is partly owned by BT Group Plc, and billionaire investor Wibur Ross's WL Ross & Co are in the race to buy the beleaguered IT firm. Bidders have been given information on the revenue streams, order book position, current assets and liabilities and fixed assets of Satyam to put a price tag on the firm. 

They will be given additional information today, said Parekh in Mumbai. Satyam, once ranked as the fourth largest software exporter, plunged into a crisis in January this year after its disgraced founder B Ramalinga Raju admitted to perpetrating a Rs 7,000 crore financial fraud.

Satyam's state-appointed board is selling a 51 percent stake in the company to restore investor confidence and stem client and employee defections. The company will be sold via an open auction if there is a bid that is 90 per cent of the highest offer, the Hyderabad-based company said in a statement. 

The highest bid will be treated as the winner if no other bid is at least 90 per cent of it or will be treated as the floor price for an open auction. Bidders who quote 90 per cent or more of the top bid will be allowed to raise their offers, with the highest price at the auction declared successful, Satyam said.

Buyers ''have sought additional data and today, tomorrow, we'll put it up on the company's Web site'', Parekh said. 

International Business Machines Corp and one more bidder had begun due diligence on Satyam, CNBC-TV18 network reported on 26 March. IBM, Fidelity Investments and buyout firm KKR Financial Holdings LLC are among the bidders, the Economic Times reported on 14 March. 

Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp may also bid for Satyam, the Business Standard reported today. Cognizant may team up with Wilbur Ross for the bid if the expected price is higher than what it is willing to pay. 

Buying Satyam will gain the winning bidder customers that include Cisco Systems Inc and Nestle SA, and a workforce of about 50,000 people. Buyers face the challenge of valuing Satyam before the company restates its financial statements and making provisions for liabilities from investor lawsuits in the US.