Mahindra Satyam settles Upaid dispute for $70 mn

Mahindra Satyam today said its board has approved settlement of lawsuits brought by its former client Upaid Systems by paying $70 million.

The company would make the first payment of $45 million to Upaid, which had filed a forgery case against Satyam, within 10 days of getting necessary regulatory approval for the same, Mahindra Satyam informed the stock exchanges.

Further, the troubled Indian outsourcer would make a payment of $25 million within the next 12 months of making the first payment.

Upaid had filed the lawsuit in a Texas court seeking damages exceeding $1 billion. The proceedings against Satyam commenced in 2007, alleging forgery of documents necessary for transfer of proper title to its under an assignment agreement entered into in 1998.

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Satyam had assigned and transferred its rights, title and interests in certain computer software to Upaid by getting assent from all the employees who had worked on the project, but the signature of one of the employees was found to have been forged.

The settlement would also involve Upaid giving Mahindra Satyam a worldwide royalty-free licence on all of its patents, and provides for the dismissal of all pending actions between parties, the filing said.

Shares of Satyam closed at Rs 102.65, up 1.33 per cent on the BSE.