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By Laton McCartney

Troubled Indian outsourcer hopes to complete purchase deal by end of April. IBM reportedly among bidders. In the wake of the huge corporate scandal that rocked Satyam Computer Services Ltd., the company is selling off 51 percent of its ownership by the end of next month.

A short list of potential buyers was completed yesterday. Satyam spokesman Bob Oliver says he's not able to comment on anything relating to the bidding, but according to published reports, the list includes eight bidders: IBM; Indian engineering conglomerate Larsen & Toubro, which already owns a 12 percent share of Satyam; private equity firm Apax Partners; Tech Mahindra, another outsourcer: and diversified Spice Group. Spice Group Chairman B.K. Mod, however, told Reuters on Wednesday the company might withdraw from the race to buy Satyam due to a lack of desired transparency in the bidding process.

If IBM, which already has about 75,000 employees in India, ends up with Satyam, with its 51,000 employees, it will rank as the biggest IT consultant in India, ahead of both Tata Consultancy Services (110,000 employees and Infosys (103,000 employees). IBM is cutting as many as 5,000 jobs in the U.S. and moving the work to India.

Comments (1)

	1. 03-27-2009 11:25
	I think in the long run it represent a great opportunity for companies like IBM to secure their long term futures.     Elemenating US jobs may be more a reflection of the current economic climate than it would be a function of IBM pulling back here in the US. Then again, perhaps it is a reflection of IBM moving to grow in ways that don't reflect its US origins.     While Laton doesn't seem to value asses, the implication of IBM pulling back in the US seems clear. Realistically, IBM is just thinking long term and where their assets need to be deployed in the long run.     I bet growth in the Asian markets will be much stronger than growth in the US market; both short and long term.    IBM is using its cash position to increase its overall position in the market. Registered

John Sane

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