Teams from bidders camp at Satyam HQ

Teams from various shortlisted bidders are camping at the Satyam Computer Services headquarters in Hyderabad “to verify documents and other critical information that are being shared with the bidders on signing of non-disclosure agreements”, according to informed sources.

The bidders for the troubled IT firm had started sending teams from departments like human resources, finance and legal, who were holding discussions with their counterparts at Satyam, the sources added.

The Satyam stock was up 4 per cent at Rs 42.20 on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE). It had dropped a little over 10 per cent in the past month.

“Between this week and next week, there will be several meetings between various bidders and company officials,” confirmed Hari Tallapalli, Satyam’s global head (marketing and communication). He, however, did not disclose any details.

On March 24, the government-appointed board of the firm had formally presented to the regulators the bidding process for selling a majority stake. The probable date for the finalisation of the successful bidder is April 30.

Indian players Larsen & Toubro, the Spice Group and Tech Mahindra have independently confirmed that they have completed the second round of the bidding process by putting in Rs 1,500 crore, which will be put in an escrow account.

There’s no confirmation or denial on the participation of global majors like IBM. Reports, however, state that private equity firms like KKR and Texas Pacific Group have pulled out of the race and so have MNCs like HP.

Meanwhile, the alleged lack of transparency in the bidding process appears to be testing the patience of bidders, even as the due diligence process is understood to have begun and is expected to continue till the first week of April.

Though the BK Modi-owned Spice group has hinted it will reconsider its decision to bid, the board of the company is yet to take a stand. iGate, which had participated in the first round of bidding, backed out from the second round. Earlier, the Hinduja group had opted out of the race.