Monday, April 9, 2012

Investor group Aberdeen seeks $150m in damages from Satyam


Investor group Aberdeen seeks $150m in damages from Satyam
A group of investors led by Scottish investment house Aberdeen Asset Management have claimed damages from Mahindra Satyam.

BANGALORE: A group of investors led by Scottish investment house Aberdeen Asset Management have claimed damages fromMahindra Satyam in connection with losses they allegedly suffered on account of the 2009 fraud perpetrated by erstwhile Satyam promoter.

The investors claim losses in excess of $150 million and interest at the rate of 8%, Satyam informed Indian stock exchanges on Saturday. The claim notice relates to legal action initiated Aberdeen Global and others before the High Court of Justice, Queen's Bench Division, Commercial Court in the UK.

This is the latest in a series of legal hurdle that Satyam had to navigate in its journey since the fraud and it is expected to pose a fresh challenge to the recently announced merger with Tech Mahindra, whose parent Mahindra Group acquired the fraud-hit Satyam in a government mediated auction in April 2009.

It is not clear if Aberdeen was part of a class action suit initiated by investors in the US that Satyam had settled for $125 million.

Other legal settlements that Satyam entered into post-fraud include damages of about $10 million paid to the US market regulator Securities Exchange Commissions and a $70 million to settlement with British telecommunications software firm Upaid in an unrelated, intellectual property rights violation case.

In its earnings disclosures, Satyam has acknowledged the legal action initiated by Aberdeen, but has maintained that it is difficult to calculate the potential liability arising from such claims because of subjectivity involved in arriving at damages caused.

Besides legal damages claimed by investors in erstwhile Satyam's shares and American Depository Receipts listed on the New York Stock Exchange, the software services firm is also facing a tax claim of Rs617crore from Indian tax authorities. Satyam has contested the claims but have submitted bank guarantees for the amount as directed by the Supreme Court.

Merger of Satyam and Tech Mahindra, a specialised information technology services firm catering to telecommunication industry, will create an entity with revenues of $2.4billion, making it the sixth largest India based outsourcing services firm.

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