L&T worried about stake in Satyam

Larsen & Toubro, currently the single largest shareholder in scam-ridden Satyam Computer, today said it is concerned about its stake in the IT firm whose valuation has dropped nearly 90% since the disclosure of a Rs 7,800-crore fraud by Ramalinga Raju.

"I am concerned about my stake in Satyam," L&T Chairman A M Naik said after meeting Corporate Affairs Ministry officials.

The meeting of Naik with the MCA official comes amid reports that the company is in the race to buyout Satyam and that it has appointed Japanese financial services firm Nomura to advise on a possible deal with Satyam.

The engineering major currently holds about 4% in Satyam, to run which the government has appointed a new six-member board. One of the board members, S Balakrishna Mainak, is from LIC-another Satyam shareholder.

On January 7, Satyam founder Chairman B Ramalinga Raju had disclosed a Rs 7,800-crore fraud in the company's accounts. Following this, Satyam's scrip had plunged nearly 80% on a single day. Multiple probes are on to unravel the fraud.

Only yesterday, the government expanded the scope of a 'serious fraud' probe to cover two other Raju family-promoted companies--Maytas Properties and Maytas Infrastructure.

Besides, the Registrar of Companies (RoC) in its report has said that the ex-promoters and top officials of the Hyderabad-based IT firm may have indulged in insider trading.