Indian telecoms firm buys stake in troubled Satyam

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MUMBAI, APR 13 (AP): Indian telecommunications firm Tech Mahindra has bought a controlling stake in Satyam Computer Services, the outsourcing giant nearly brought down in a $1 billion fraud.
Tech Mahindra purchased 31 per cent of Satyam for $351 million, the highest bid submitted before the Monday morning deadline. It will also make an offer on the open market to buy an additional 20 per cent of Satyam. Tech Mahindra, which is owned by India's Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd and British Telecommunications, beat out Larsen & Toubro, one of India's largest engineering conglomerates, which acquired a 12 per cent stake in Satyam from late last year into January.
"We hope this will infuse greater confidence and comfort amongst customers," Kiran Karnik, Satyam's chairman, said Monday.
The winning bidder must be approved by the government. Satyam was plunged into turmoil Jan. 7 when founder B. RamalingaRaju confessed to a $1 billion fraud.
Raju and eight others, including two auditors from PriceWaterhouse, are facing charges of criminal conspiracy, cheating and forgery for allegedly stealing millions of dollars from the company. Satyam, once India's fourth largest outsourcing company, has been fighting for its survival since Raju's confession.
The sale had taken on urgency amid media reports that clients and staff have been leaving Suitors faced the difficult task of valuing Satyam before its scrambled books had been untangled.