Shareholders oppose Mahindra Satyam-Tech Mahindra merger

Minority shareholders in Mahindra Satyam have strongly opposed the management's move to merge the company with parent Tech Mahindra, which took over the scam-hit Satyam Computer Services in April last year.

Around 150 shareholders who had turned up on Tuesday for the company's first annual general meeting after the scandal broke said a "premature merger" of Satyam with the less-known parent Tech Mahindra before the stock achieved reasonable value would hurt their interests.

Expressing fears that such a merger would only benefit Tech Mahindra shareholders, Satyam's minority shareholders demanded that the Mahindras settle all Satyam liabilities first and then wait for the company's operations and share prices to stabilise before thinking of a merger.

While many small shareholders felt they would be short-changed if a merger was taken up in the near future because the Satyam scrip was way below its appropriate valuation, some felt that the Mahindras had not been completely transparent in their restatement of Satyam's accounts.

"There are hardly any issues where they (Mahindras) have really come clean. This is where the investing public are really upset," said an agitated shareholder.

"It is not just that the accounts should be clear. The Satyam share has to come up to its own natural value before you evautate it, compare it to Tech Mahindra and then decide the swap ratio," said another shareholder.