Hit and miss

The Patni brothers backtracked from selling Patni Computers many times after putting it on the block and before iGate finally bought it. If it were not for this, the company might have had another, bigger buyer in Larsen & Toubro, which has been looking out for IT companies for acquisitions (recall its Satyam bid). “We wanted to bid. But whenever we did, they changed their plans to sell out. So when they did actually come out to sell, we did not think they were serious. So, we did not bid,” a senior company official said.