Promoters' stake in Satyam falls to 3.6%

The promoter holding in Satyam Computer Services today fell to 3.6 per cent after institutional lenders sold 24.52 million shares, the company said in a stock exchange filing. The holding is expected to come down further as the promoters has pledged the entire holdings over a period of time since September 2006. More institutional lenders are expected to exercise their option of selling the pledged shares to cover margin calls.

The institutional investors include ICICI Prudential, Aberdeen Asset Management and Fidelity. Together, they hold 60 per cent stake in the IT major.

Satyam Chairman Ramalinga Raju had 55.7 million shares (amounting to 8.27 per cent stake) through SRSR Holdings, the promoter company of Raju, at the end of the September quarter. This came down in December to 5.13 per cent as lenders sold 21 million shares in open market transactions. IL&FS Trust today said it sold the shares that were pledged with it as trustee on behalf of several debenture holders and lenders. They include DSP Merrill Lynch, DSP Blackrock, Deutsche Bank, HDFC Mutual Fund and IL&FS Financial Services.

During the period from December 23, 2008, to January 5, 2009, IL&FS Trust sold 3.9 million Satyam shares held by DSP Merrill Lynch, 7.4 million shares held by DSP Blackrock and 4.7 million shares held by Deutsche Bank. The company has also sold 5 million shares of Satyam held by HDFC Mutual Fund and 3.5 million shares held by IL&FS Financial Services. The Satyam scrip closed at Rs 179.10, up 7.31 per cent on the BSE. Meanwhile, Satyam will hold its board meeting on January 10 to consider options to improve shareholder value and corporate governance, leading to speculation of a possible stake sale or takeover bid.

Company swears by clients’ confidence

Hyderabad: Satyam has said its clients still have high levels of confidence in the company. “Satyam has deep and long lasting relationships with its clients. We have received a great many expressions of continued support and confidence from them," a spokesperson said.

Forrester Research, in its report dated December 30, 2008, had said sourcing and vendor management executives need to ensure that they have strong contingency plans and change of ownership clauses in case the company is acquired or the fallout from this serious mis-step affects the company's ability to compete long-term.

It also said that it was looking more and more likely that after the special board of directors meeting on January 10, 2009, there will be management and governance change and even potentially the outright sale of the company.

Brushing aside reports that Satyam’s statutory auditor PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) may review its continuance with the company, the spokesperson said: "We have not heard from PwC on this."