Satyam defers Dec 29 Board meeting

K. V. Kurmanath, Business line

Hyderabad, Dec. 27 Satyam Computer Services has decided to postpone the crucial December 29 board meeting, even as the investor community is anxious about the developments.
“The meeting has been postponed to ensure physical participation by all members on the board. The idea is to have an extensive discussions on all the issues, including buyback,” a Satyam spokesperson said.
At least two board members, Mr Vinod K. Dham and Dr Krishna Palepu, live abroad. The decision to hold the December 29 meeting was taken a few days after the company withdrew the proposal to acquire the two Maytas companies. The agenda was to discuss the buyback of shares as part of the plan to win back investor confidence.
Though a fresh date for the meeting has not been indicated, it is learnt that it would be held well ahead of the board meeting in the third week of January scheduled to consider the third quarter results.
Earlier, Mr Vinod Dham had asked the company management to convene a special board meeting to address the developments of the last 10 days. “As an independent board member, I am working with the Satyam management and other board members to come up with steps that will maximise shareholders interest,” Mr Vinod Dham, Father of the Pentium and founder-Executive Managing Partner of NEA-Indo US Ventures, told Business Line.
The Satyam board okayed a proposal on December 16 to acquire Maytas Properties and Maytas Infra - the two companies controlled by Mr B. Ramalinga Raju, Chairman of Satyam, and his sons - for a consideration of $1.6 billion. Though it withdrew the decision in a few hours following protests by the investor community, the scrip lost over 40 per cent in the last 10 days.
“I have suggested that a special board meeting consider various options and address the concerns that have been brought up,” he said.
Mr Vinod Dham, who worked as Vice-President of Intel’s Microprocessor Products group, has been on Satyam’s board from January 2003.
Meanwhile, Fidelity Investment Trust, which holds 4.63 per cent through Fidelity Management and Research Company, declined to comment on reports that foreign institutional investors are trying to effect a change in the management. “We don’t comment on individual cases,” a Fidelity spokesperson told Business Line.
Ms Judi Frost Mackey, a spokesperson of Lazard (which holds 1.83 per cent through Lazard Asset Management), too declined comments on whether the Satyam Board’s decision to acquire the Maytas firms went well with Lazard and whether it had written to Satyam on the proposed deal. “We never comment on Lazard Asset Management’s holdings,” the spokesperson said.

Business Line report