Satyam e-auction: Spice proposes, L&T opposes

Says Satyam is not a commodity. B K Modi of Spice had earlier pushed for e-auction, for its transparency. Larsen and Toubro Ltd (L&T) has expressed reservations about the e-auction model being proposed for buying the beleaguered Satyam Computer Services Limited. “It (Satyam) is not a commodity. We are against the suggestion to have an e-auction to determine a suitable buyer for an entity like Satyam,” said JP Nayak, L & T 's whole-time director and president (operations). Nayak was speaking to mediapersons on the sidelines of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII)’s seminar on ‘Role of insurance in infrastructure development’ in Hyderabad on Wednesday. It may be recalled that the BK Modi-promoted Spice Group had said that it has enough bank balance (about Rs 2,100 crore which it garnered through sale of Spice Communications to Idea Cellular) to acquire Satyam. BK Modi had earlier said that he had already written a letter to the new government-nominated board of Satyam and suggested that e-auction could be a transparent way to find a suitable buyer for the company. Stating that the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has not yet come out with any clear-cut norms with regard to amending laws exempting the acquirer from making an open offer to shareholders of Satyam at pre-January prices, Nayak said, “Whatever they (Sebi) have recommended was as per the request of the Satyam board. Once there is a clear amendment, it is up to the Satyam board to decide on a suitable partner.” “L&T is not just an infrastructure company... it has diversified interests including in manufacturing and information technology (L&T Infratech). An acquisition like Satyam will give us much more synergies,” he added.