Aberdeen seeks Rs 750 cr in damages from Mahindra Satyam

Mahindra Satyam (formerly Satyam Computer Services Limited) on Saturday said a group of investors led by Aberdeen Asset Management have claimed damages of over $150 million (approximately Rs 750 crore) from the company for the losses they suffered after the confession of accounting frauds by its founder, B Ramalinga Raju, in 2009.

In a notice sent to Mahindra Satyam, Aberdeen Global and other investors said they had filed a claim before the High Court of Justice, Queen’ Bench Division of Commercial Court in the UK.

The investors also claimed an interest at the rate of eight per cent on damages.

The new claim may pose legal hurdles for Mahindra Satyam, which recently announced its merger with Tech Mahindra, the company that bought it in April 2009.

A senior official of Mahindra Satyam said on condition of anonymity that the company would respond to the claims after contacting its legal counsels.

“We have already informed the bourses in the last quarter itself that there are a few investors’ claims on losses. We now received a formal notice from the Aberdeen Group and our next step is to go to the court,” the official added.

In a note to investors after its third-quarter results, ended December 31, 2011, Mahindra Satyam had stated that Aberdeen Asset Management and certain non-US claimant-funds had given notice of potential proceedings against the company, for the losses. The investors had “initially quantified the alleged losses at about $283 million. However, since then, the list of claimant-funds has undergone significant change and the losses allegedly sustained by them have not been specified,” the company had stated.

Apart from claim by Aberdeen Asset Management, another suit filed by Aberdeen Group along with some other American Depository Receipt holders in November 2009, is still pending in the US courts. It had claimed losses of over $68 million. Since then, the new management of the company, Tech Mahindra, has been looking for an out-of-court settlement with the Aberdeen Group and clear all legal hurdles.

Satyam is facing a series of legal hurdles ever since it got acquired by Tech Mahindra. While many of these have already been settled by the new management, the company is still facing a tax claim of Rs 617crore from the income tax department in India.

Some of the litigations that have been solved by the management include, class-action lawsuit that was resolved for $125 million, Upaid litigation for $70 million and SEC regulatory litigation involved a sum of $10 million.