Goldman Sachs is leading the race for being appointed as the investment banker for Satyam Computer Services, reports The Economic Times. The Satyam board, which met on Thursday, is looking for a strategic investor or a buyer to save the beleaguered firm. The board meeting that began on Thursday would continue on Friday as well. The report also mentions that J P Morgan and Deutsche Bank were also in the race.
The board also discussed the appointment of the CEO and the CFO for Satyam. The board has appointed Search firm Egon Zehnder to help in identifying the CEO.
Representatives of at least four banks, including BNP Paribas, Citibank and State Bank of India also met the Directors. However, it is learnt that the bigger banks like Citi which have already been bankers to Satyam, would not be interested in being involved too much in the process as there could be a conflict of interests.
Tech Mahindra as well as L&T Infotech have openly expressed their interest in Satyam. L&T, which currently holds 4% shares in the fraud hit Satyam, plans to increase its stake in the firm. It is also believed that L&T had approached the government a week back, with a plan to save Satyam. L&T is also working closely with KPMG, which has been appointed to perform the advisory work for Satyam.
Satyam Board has also asked audit firms KPMG and Deloitte, who have been mandated to restate the accounts of the company, to provide a broad outline of the accounts. The full restatement of the accounts would, however, take some time.
