Satyam board may touch L&T stake issue, finalise on CEO, funds

New Delhi, Jan 25 (PTI) The board of Satyam will meet for
two days from Monday to finalise the twin issues of appointing
CEO and CFO and working capital arrangement, and may discuss
L&T increasing stake in the company to 12 per cent.

A Satyam director said it is quite obvious that L&T
picking up more stake in the company would be discussed as
that is the single largest stakeholder at the moment.

LIC, which holds four per cent stake, has found a board
berth in Satyam, while L&T does not have a board seat.

Engineering giant Larsen & Toubro tripled its stake in
Satyam to 12 per cent on Friday from its earlier 4 per cent.

Earlier, Satyam board member Tarun Das had said the board
has been approached by potential Indian and MNC bidders.
Software company iGATE has already expressed interest in the
fifth largest exporter.

The six-member government board had met last week and had
announced that funding arrangements for Satyam to meet
operational needs, including the salary bills and vendor
payments, up to March 2009 would be be announced before
January 28 while the new CEO and CFO will be appointed soon.

It also said a new investment banker would be appointed
in the next few days and declared that the immovable
properties of the company, including all campuses owned by it,
were free from any encumbrance - making them eligible for
mortgaging or sale.

In a statement issued after the meeting, the board
confirmed that prima facie there appeared to be no basis to
doubt the number of employees and the attrition was well under
control.

The collections had been robust so far and the board took
into confidence the leadership team to work out the ways and
means to expedite the collections and also to execute prudent
measures for cost optimisation. PTI