Investors have lost a whopping Rs 13,600 crore ($2.82 billion) in Satyam shares in less than a month, since the skeletons started tumbling out of the company’s cupboards.

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The market capitalisation of Satyam fell to Rs 1,607.04 crore today from Rs 15,262 crore at the end of trade on December 16, 2008, the day when Satyam announced an $1.6-billion acquisition of two firms promoted by the kin of IT firm’s former chairman Ramalinga Raju.

However, the company aborted the deal hours later after the investors dissent. The meltdown in the scrip wiped off as much as Rs 13,655 crore in just 19 trading sessions.

The share price of Satyam plunged to Rs 23 today from over Rs 200 levels on December 16, when the fiasco began. Investors received a rude shock on January 7, when Ramalinga Raju tendered his resignation and confessed to close to Rs 7,800 crore accounting fraud in the company. The stock had nosedived close to 80 per cent to Rs 39.95 after the starking revelations on that day.

The major erosion in the market cap was suffered in the past two trading sessions which wiped off Rs 10,460 crore with the scrip plunging as much as 86 per cent since January 7. Analysts believe the scrip is likely to stagnate at Rs 20 levels even as the Satyam counter was among the most traded on the bourses.

“The scrip is stagnating at Rs 20 levels. But we cannot fix the valuation of the firm based on the current price movement. The scrip is more of news reports driven and struggling to find ground,” SMC Global Vice-President Rajesh Jain said.

Interestingly, Satyam shares had gained a combined 23 per cent in six consecutive trading sessions between December 26 and January 1, amid reports that the firm was ripe takeover target for rival IT firms and private equity investors.

The stock had also gained after the company announced that the board would consider a buyback of shares in its meeting scheduled for December 29. However, the company had postponed the board meeting to January 10.

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