Funding plans on Satyam board table

The new board will have to keep clients from defecting to Satyams rivals,fend off a growing number of lawsuits over the scandal and try to rebuild investor trust. Lazard Asset Management said in a notice to the stock exchange on Friday it had sold all of its 5.3 percent holding in Satyam through open market transactions on Thursday. Satyams clients include corporate giants such as Nestle and General Electric.

Meanwhile,according to unconfirmed reports,Ruias-promoted Essar Group is believed to have evinced interest in acquiring Satyam BPO,the outsourcing arm of the scam-ridden IT major. Sources close to the development said that a formal proposal could be made after the possibility of selling a part of Satayms businesses is discussed by the government-appointed board of the once-iconic IT company.

When contacted,an Essar group spokesperson declined to comment,while a Satyam spokesperson said,No such proposal has been made to my knowledge.

For the July-September quarter,Satyam Computer reported a revenue of Rs 55.62 crore for the BPO arm,Satyam BPO formerly named as Nipuna,which is a majority-owned subsidiary. It is engaged in providing business process outsourcing services covering HR,financial and accounting,customer contact voice,mail and chat and transaction processing. Satyam BPO was ranked as the second largest BPO globally in Brown-Wilson Groups 2008 Black Book of Outsourcing. Essar groups BPO arm Aegis is a 100 per cent subsidiary of the 50-billion dollar Indian conglomerate.

Satyam shares soar 14 pc on NYSE,20 on BSE

New York: Satyam Computer today surged over 14 per cent in early trade on the American bourses amid positive investor sentiment ahead of the company8217;s board meeting scheduled tomorrow. Within minutes of opening its trade on the New York Stock Exchange,Satyam8217;s American Depository Receipts ADRs surged 14.29 per cent to a high of 1.12. On the Indian bourses Satyam shares today rose over 20 per cent to Rs 24.45.

MMTC may drop Maytas joint venture for SEZ

New delhi: The MMTC board,to meet here on Saturday,is likely to take a decision on dropping a JV SEZ plan with the Maytas firms. Though the decision to pull out of the Rs 8,603-crore SEZ project in Tamil Nadu has been taken by the MMTC brass,the formal approval for aborting the plan is expected to be given by the company board.

ICAI asks PwC to submit audit papers for 7 years

New Delhi: The newly constituted ICAI panel has asked PwC,which audited accounts of scam-tainted Satyam,to give details like names of CAs,audit working papers and financial statements of the IT company for the past 7 years.

Somaiya submits list of 15 firms inflating profits

New Delhi: BJP leader Kirit Somaiya today submitted a list of 15 more companies to the government alleging that these were also inflating profit in the same manner as Satyam did and demanded a probe. I have submitted a list of 15 such companies along with the full details and with the supporting documents. We want the ministry should ask the Registrar of Companies and the ICAI to look into the documents and make it public, Kirit Somaiya told reporters after meeting the corporate affairs minister Prem Chand Gupta.

Maytas deals in jeopardy

Mumbai: Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company will review a Rs 480-crore contract it had awarded to Maytas Infra a few months ago. The Rs 480-crore contract relates to upgradation of the power distribution network. Hirco,a Hiranandani group entity,is also scrapping a sub-contract it gave to Maytas.

KPMG replaces PwC at Ficci

New Delhi: Price Waterhous has lost its mandate as the knowledge partner for industry body Ficcis flagship annual entertainment event FRAME that will now have KPMG as its partner. Ficci officials said that parting of ways with Price Waterhouse was not related to the Satyam episode.