Sunday, January 25, 2009

2 more Satyam directors quit, more may follow

December 29, 2008

Two more directors on Monday resigned from the board of Satyam Computer Services , taking the number to three, following differences over an abortive acquisition deal involving two firms promoted by chairman Ramalinga Raju's family.

The NYSE-listed company on Monday announced the resignation of non-executive director Krishna G Palepu, and non-executive and independent director Vinod K Dham from the board, with effect from Sunday.

On December 25, the board's longest serving member Mangalam Srinivasan had resigned from the board owning moral responsibility for the fiasco over the Maytas acquisitions that raised questions about the role of independent directors and corporate governance issues.

PTI

SFIO probe into Satyam deal likely

December 29, 2008

The government said on Tuesday it would refer the controversial $1.6-billion Satyam-Maytas failed deal to the Serious Frauds Investigation Office if the Registrar of Companies detects major irregularities during its investigation into the issue.

"The case is already with the registrar of companies. If the RoC and regional director say that the case is of serious nature, and a serious fraud has been committed, it will be referred to the SFIO," a corporate affairs ministry official said on Monday.

Satyam had abandoned the deal on December 17, a day after it announced acquisitions of two Maytas firms, promoted by the family of company chairman B Ramalinga Raju in the face of stiff protests from investors who charged violation of corporate governance.

Within days, the World Bank also made public an eight-year ban on the company on charges of bribery and wrong business practices.

The ministry has asked the RoC to submit within three weeks reports of the Satyam-Maytas deal and the details involved.

The official, who did not want to be named, said that the issue could also be sent to the Company Law Board, a quasi-judicial body that also looks into the working of companies in the interest of minority shareholders.

For this, the ministry could even waive the condition of a minimum 10 per cent of shareholders required for moving the CLB with complaints. Even if there are lesser number of shareholders approaching the government, the ministry could refer the matter to CLB, he said, adding till now 'no one has filed a complaint'.

Business Standard

Srinivasan resigns from Satyam's board

December 26, 2008

An independent director on Satyam Computer's board is understood to have resigned days ahead of a scheduled meeting next week.

When contacted, a Satyam spokesperson declined to comment, while the independent member, Mangalam Srinivasan, could not be reached.

Earlier this month, Satyam announced the acquisition of two companies promoted by the family of its chief B Ramalinga Raju, but called off the deal within hours following investors' dissent over corporate governance issues.

Satyam had two independent directors on its board. Srinivasan is believed to have resigned for being a party to the controversial buyout of the two firms -- Maytas Properties and Maytas Infrastructure -- owned by Ramalinga Raju's sons.

The decision raised the issue of corporate governance and later led to shareholder activism, which forced the proposed deal to be aborted.

Although market sources said the other independent director may resign before or on the day of the board meeting, the same could not be confirmed either from the member or from the company.

PTI

World Bank bars Satyam for 8 years

December 24, 2008

The World Bank has barred Satyam Computer Services from doing any business with it for the next eight years even as the share prices of India's fourth-largest IT firm tanked 13.5 per cent on rumours that B Ramalinga Raju, founder and chairman, has resigned.

Speculation was also high on news that Wipro Technologies, India's third-largest IT firm, might acquire Satyam, something both companies denied.

Foxnews.com on Tuesday reported that the World Bank ban started in September this year "due to alleged malpractice's including bribery". The news report said the World Bank debarment -- the harshest sanction ever made by the bank since 2004 -- was meted out for 'improper benefit to bank staff' and 'lack of documentation on invoices'.

"The information is true," Sudip Mozumder, a spokesman for the World Bank in New Delhi, told Reuters. Moreover, Robert Van Pulley, the information security official, admitted to the ban during a recent meeting with officials of the Government Accountability Project, a 30-year-old whistle-blowing organisation based in Washington.

When contacted, a Satyam spokesperson said that "the company does not comment on individual clients".

According to reports throughout 2003 to 2008, the World Bank has paid Satyam hundreds of millions of dollars to maintain and manage its software systems across global networks as well as look at back-office operations.

In 2005, the bank's chief information officer, Mohamed Muhsin, was asked to leave after being accused of improperly buying preferential stock options from Satyam, even as he awarded the firm major contracts. A top-secret investigation led to Muhsin being banned permanently from the bank in January 2007.

Satyam has been in the line of fire since it made an attempt to acquire Maytas Infra and Maytas Properties for $1.6 billion that are partially owned by the promoter family. Within 10 to12 hours of this announcement, the company retracted its decision due to investor outrage.

Sebi finds no violation by Satyam

December 24, 2008

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has, prima facie, not found any violation of norms relating to takeover and corporate governance in its preliminary surveillance of the deal involving the acquisition of Maytas Infra by Satyam Computer Services.

Thus, sources close to the development said, there was no need for a formal investigation. Instead, the market regulator would probe the deal under Sections 370 and 372 of the Companies Act.

Therefore, the probe would be limited to the deal between the two listed entities -- Satyam and Maytas Infra -- and not cover the one involving Satyam and unlisted firm Maytas Properties.

Section 370 of the Companies Act deals with loans to companies under the same management. Under this Section, a company could not give loans or any form of guarantee to companies under the same management unless it has been approved by a special board resolution. Section 372 deals with purchase of shares of one company by another.

These purchases, sources said, are governed by certain restrictions imposed by the board of the company at the time of its inception and copies of this document are submitted to the market regulator and the Department of Company Affairs.

Sources said the probe is intended to find out if there has been any substantial purchase or sale of shares between the group companies over a two-to-three month period.

"Even if prima facie it seems that there has been no violation, one needs to check if the loans and investments made into the group companies are supported by any clause that the same could get converted into equity, or any other form of control, later," said the source.

Further, the market regulator proposes to check if the companies had made the required disclosures to stock exchanges before such proposal was announced.

Reportedly, institutional investors had strongly objected to the fact that the acquisition decision, which the company had conveyed to the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) after trading hours, was not communicated to shareholders first.

(Business Standard)

How Satyam case has dented India Inc's image

December 19, 2008

The Satyam bid to merge itself with two infrastructure companies controlled by the same promoter group (the Raju family) will rightly go down in Indian corporate history as an object lesson in corporate misgovernance.

The company's board has quickly reversed the merger decision, in the wake of a shareholder revolt and a crash in the company's share price (by about 50 per cent in New York), and it now seeks to recover lost ground through a share buyback offer.

But it is worth bearing in mind that, in the case of many companies, such an offer has ended up being nothing more than a bid to bolster the share price, without any shares actually being bought back.

How this will end is therefore too early to forecast, but there can be little doubt that the promoter group, led by the company's founder-chairman, B Ramalinga Raju, has lost a good deal of shareholder trust, and some of it may never be regained -- with good reason.

It passes understanding as to how a promoter group can hope to change a company's principal business without going to the general body of shareholders for their approval, especially when the promoters hold no more than 8.6 per cent of the company.

The decision is even more dubious when the addition of a main line of business (with which there is no synergy or indeed any connection whatsoever) is sought to be achieved by a merger with firms controlled by the same group -- with no transparency on how the relative valuations was done, because this information too has not been given to shareholders.

Promoter families taking other shareholders for granted is not new; indeed, it is all too common. They got away with it in the past because retail shareholders felt powerless to influence the way the company was being run, while domestic institutional investors (both the public financial institutions of old as well as mutual funds) usually adopted a compliant attitude, even when they were represented on the board.

Things began to change after foreign institutional investors (FIIs) came on to the scene some 15 years ago; in the latest episode too, it was the FIIs who led the revolt and immediately dumped the company's stock.

It is worth noting that it was not any corporate governance rule or action by the stock market watchdog that stopped the company in its tracks; nor was it the independent directors, on whom so much reliance is placed in corporate governance regulation.

Indeed, the Satyam board was packed with independent directors who are men of standing, and whose credentials no one would ordinarily question: the dean of a prestigious business school, a well-known professor of Harvard Business School, a former director of the Indian Institute of Technology in Delhi, a retired cabinet secretary, and the like.

That such worthies could be parties to a decision that met with instant shareholder anger raises legitimate questions about whether too much faith is in fact placed on independent directors.

The fundamental weakness in this model is the fact that independent directors usually have no stake in the success of the business; indeed, in some other cases it has been revealed that independent directors were being financially benefited in a variety of indirect ways (like supplier contracts to relatives), and therefore beholden to the company management.

In the case of Reliance, for instance, the level of adherence to corporate governance norms became known to the world at large only when there was dissension in the promoter group, leading to several startling revelations.

While it would be wrong to paint everyone with the same brush, the Satyam episode certainly raises questions about what standards of corporate governance exist, beyond the talk at seminars and the many codes that have been framed.

It is unfortunate that Corporate India's image should be dented in this fashion; but it would be even more unfortunate if the Satyam case did not lead to a more careful scrutiny of what exactly goes on in Corporate India.

Business Standard

Govt orders probe into Satyam's Maytas deal

December 19, 2008

The government is understood to have ordered a probe into Satyam Computer Services' [Get Quote] controversial decision to buy two group-promoted companies and then reversing the deal within a few hours under pressure from investors.

According to official sources, the government will examine if the company had any malafide intention to influence the stock market.

Satyam Computers had on Tuesday announced that it will acquire two group firms - Maytas properties and Maytas Infra for $1.6 billion (about Rs 8,000 crore) as part of its diversification strategy, a move that sparked a row over alleged violation of corporate governance laws.

However, the company had to reverse the decision within a few hours after its scrip nosedived more than 55 per cent on the US bourses.

Sources said the government will examine whether the company indulged in any short selling and whether it wanted to cover its position after the stock prices plummeted.

The ministry of corporate affairs had said it will look into whether the company violated any corporate governance laws while entering into such a deal involving share holders' money.

Shares buyback: Satyam board to meet on Dec 29

Satyam Computer Services said on Thursday its board will meet on December 29 to consider a share buyback proposal.

"A meeting of the board of directors of the company will be held on December 29, 2008, to consider the proposal for buyback of shares of the company," Satyam said in a regulatory filing to the stock exchanges.

The company's move to mollify shareholders comes after it raised investor ire on its proposed $1.6-billion acquisition deal, which had to be called off.

After suffering a severe battering on Wednesday, Satyam shares surged 13.88 per cent to an intra-day high of Rs 180 on Thursday on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

It was later trading at Rs 172.75, up 9.30 per cent on the BSE in the late afternoon trade.

On Wednesday, the scrip had plunged as much as 30 per cent to close at Rs 158.05 after touching its 52-week low.

The company on Tuesday had announced a $1.6-billion deal to acquire Maytas Properties and Maytas Infrastructure -- companies run by Satyam chief Ramalinga Raju's sons B Rama Raju and Teja Raju.

PTI

Satyam may launch shares buyback to appease investors

December 17, 2008

Having infuriated investors with a deal that would have propped up companies of its promoters, Satyam Computers is now looking to mollify shareholders through rewards such as a share buyback or dividend payout.

"We will take the decisions in few days. In the light of whatever has happened, buyback is one of the option... (it) being one of the investor friendly measures that we may consider. We are also discussing whether it will be dividend or buyback," Satyam's CFO Srinivas Valdamani

The company on Tuesday announced a $1.6 billion deal to acquire Maytas Properties and Maytas Infrastructure, companies run by Satyam chief Ramalinga Raju's sons B Rama Raju and Teja Raju.

Investors' opposition forced Satyam to call off the deal on Wednesday.

Valdamani said the company has a cash surplus of $1.1 billion and it was meant for inorganic and organic growth and corporate actions like giving dividends and bonus share or a buyback.

(PTI)

Satyam under fire for $1.6 bn Maytas deal

December 17, 2008

Satyam Computer Services, India's fourth-largest software services provider, today came under fire from institutional investors after the company announced its acquisition of two companies -- Maytas Infra and Maytas Properties--for $1.6 billion (around Rs 7,680 crore).

Satyam Computer Services, India's fourth-largest software services provider, today came under fire from institutional investors after the company announced its acquisition of two companies -- Maytas Infra and Maytas Properties--for $1.6 billion (around Rs 7,680 crore).

The company's board had earlier in the day approved buying 51 per cent in Maytas Infra for $1.3 billion (around Rs 6,240 crore) and 100 per cent of Maytas Properties for $300 million (Rs 1,440 crore).

Satyam proposes to acquire 31 per cent in Maytas Infra from the promoters at a price of Rs 475 a share and make an open offer for an additional 20 per cent. The open offer price has been approved at Rs 525 a share and is subject to change according to the Takeover Code norms.

(Business Standard)

Satyam calls off $1.6-bn Maytas deal

December 17, 2008

Hit by the adverse market reaction, homegrown Satyam Computers on Wednesday called off its proposed $1.6-billion acquisition of two companies promoted by the IT major Chief Ramalinga Raju's son.

Announcing the decision to call off the acquisition of Maytas Properties and Maytas Infrastructure "in light of the setback received from the investors community," Raju said: "We have been surprised by the market reaction to this decision even though we were quite positive about the merits of the acquisition."

The reversal comes within a day of the Satyam board approving the decision to acquire Maytas Properties for $1.3 billion and a majority 51 per cent stake in Maytas Infrastructure for $300 million.

(PTI)