Satyam denies rumors of sell off

BANGALORE: Satyam Computer Services has denied any sell off or dilution of stake by its chief promoter Ramalinga Raju, who is also the chairman of the company. Terming the day long market speculation about this as a mere rumor, the company may issue an official statement to clarify its position. From late Monday afternoon, the market was abuzz after a leading television news channel flashed a report about a possible dilution of stakes by Raju in this high-profile NYSE listed firm.

When contacted, the company’s spokesperson, Ramnath Peddinti, informed, "We have absolutely no clue from where these rumors are pouring in. All of a sudden we are getting calls from all the major national News channels as well as daily newspapers about Mr Raju’s stake in the company. I can assure you that nothing has changed for us and he is still holding the stake, which he had earlier." Ramalinga Raju holds about 3.08 percent stake in the company. The Indian promoters of the company, including him, together hold about 20.74 percent stake in Hyderabad based software services major, which is also the fourth largest Indian software exporter.

However the stock markets did not react to the rumor and in fact the company’s scrip ended 3.52 percent higher, closing at Rs 166.05 per share in the BSE over its Friday closing price of Rs 160.40. "We are continuing with our day to day business meetings and in fact in about two days time a major US based customer is coming to visit us. So we are looking forward to that," added Peddinti.

With inputs from CNS in Hyderabad.