Mumbai: Satyam Computer Services Ltd’s board expects to outline the bidding process for a possible sale of the fraud-hit firm in the next 10 days time, its chairman Kiran Karnik said on Thursday.
“It’s a work in progress. I can’t give any deadline. I can only tell you, this needs to be done quickly,”he added.
Karnik said on Wednesday many potential suitors had approached Satyam, but a formal sale process was yet to begin.
Stability assured: Satyam chairman Kiran Karnik. Punit Paranjpe / Reuters
The board has appointed Goldman Sachs and Avendus, an Indian investment bank, to look for strategic investors.
Separately, Union minister for company affairs P.C. Gupta , said in New Delhi that a process for Satyam’s sale is being worked out.
Satyam is looking for a suitable investor and the board of directors is in total command, the minister added. The bidding process will be transparent, he said.
Any action taken by the government will be in the interest of Satyam’s stakeholders, Gupta said.
Karnik said it would take time to restate Satyam’s accounts. He didn’t specify a time frame.
However, he added that the company’s financial stability has been assured for the time being.
“We have put out the fire and are now looking at financial stability,” Karnik said.
Karnik heads the government-appointed board of Satyam whose former chairman Ramalinga Raju revealed on 7 January that he had fudged the company’s books, over the years to the tune of at least Rs7,136 crore.
The new board appointed new auditors KPMG and Deloitte to restate the company’s books. The role of Satyam’s previous auditor Price Waterhouse is also being investigated by several agencies .
More land will be pledged if funds are needed, Karnik said, adding that customer retention and employee stability were also key issues for the board.
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(V. Ramakrishnan is with ‘Reuters’‘ and Saikat Chatterjee with ‘Bloomberg’. Bloomberg’s Hemal Salvi and PTI also contributed to this story.)