L038;T closes in on Satyam,ups stake,iGate eyeing

Larsen amp; Toubro has moved a step closer to acquiring scam-hit Satyam Computer.

Larsen amp; Toubro Lamp;T has moved a step closer to acquiring scam-hit Satyam Computer. The engineering major on Friday bought 3.9 crore Satyam shares at a price of Rs 34.52 per share in a bulk deal estimated at around Rs 135 crore on the NSE. With this,the total shareholding of Lamp;T in Satyam has increased from 4.48 per cent to 12.04 per cent.

Satyam shares spurted by 31.25 per cent to close at Rs 38.25 on the BSE on Friday amidst the takeover rumours. Lamp;T had bought around 4 per cent stake in Satyam in early January this year through its investment arm Lamp;T Capital.

The Lamp;T move to buy another 7.56 per cent stake has come at a time when iGate openly said it was interested in acquiring parts of Satyam,whose board has been approached by domestic and foreign companies for a possible merger or sale. If the government moves in a timely manner to plug the loss of credibility and erosion of important clients of Satyam,Lamp;T would subsequently raise its stake in the company,Lamp;T circles had said. With its infrastructure business coming under pressure,Lamp;T,which already has an IT arm,Lamp;T Infotech,would be looking at new avenues of growth. With 12 per cent of Satyam under its belt,there is speculation that Lamp;T can go for an additional 3 per cent which would then trigger the mandatory open offer for Satyam.

The companys new board said on Friday that funding arrangements to meet cash expenses would likely be finalised by Wednesday,and a new chief executive will be selected next week.

In Hyderabad,the court today deferred hearing on the bail pleas of Ramalinga Raju and and former CFO V Srinivas to January 27 and that of Rajus brother B. Rama Raju to January 28. The court also rejected the petition filed by Sebi seeking a day to record the statements of B Ramalinga Raju and former CFO V Srinivas. The court also rejected a petition by SFIO seeking six-day custody of Raju and Srinivas. Raju had bought lands in India as well as abroad,public prosecutor K Ajay Kumar told the court. He also said that in reply to a query from CID,BNP Paribas had denied having any fixed deposits and that there had been no transaction with the bank since March 31,2004.