Dun & Bradstreet To Buy Out Satyam Stake In Joint Venture

Dun & Bradstreet Satyam Software (DBSS), the joint venture between the US-based Dun & Bradstreet and Chennai-based Satyam Computer, may become a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Dun & Bradstreet Corporation with the American firm planning to buy off the Indian partner's share in the joint venture.

Dun & Bradstreet is at present the major shareholder controlling 76 per cent of the stake, while the remaining is held by Satyam. The DBSS management was tight-lipped on the issue. However, a company source revealed that the buy off would most probably come through by March.

The parent company is going through a major restructuring. It is most probably because of this that the buying off is taking place, the source said.

 

The plan to buy out Satyam's stake at a later stage was part of the arrangement between the joint venture partners, the source added.

Dun & Bradstreet Satyam Software will be declaring its annual results in a few days. The company has projected a turnover of around Rs 40 crore for the year ending 1996. It hopes to achieve a turnover of Rs 100 crore by 1998.

Recently the company set up its second location at Calcutta with an investment of around Rs 1 crore, generated through internal accruals.

The company claims to have found a solution for the year 2000 date conversion problem. We have the tools for the conversion and we have implemented it successfully, a source said.

Selling this package might turn out to be a lucrative business proposition, the source added.