Satyam Bidding

Satyam Shares Rise as Larsen, Tech Mahindra Vie for Control

Satyam Computer Services Ltd. surged in Mumbai trading as Larsen & Toubro Ltd. and Tech Mahindra Ltd. placed competing bids for a controlling stake in the company at the center of India’s biggest corporate fraud inquiry.

Satyam climbed 14 percent to 53.80 rupees as of 10:33 a.m. in Mumbai. Deepak Parekh, a director at what was once India’s fourth-largest software-services company, said today the outcome of the bidding will be announced this afternoon. U.S. billionaire Wilbur Ross has said Satyam is an “interesting” company amid reports he may place a bid.

The sale aims to restore investor confidence and stem client defections at Hyderabad-based Satyam after former Chairman Ramalinga Raju said he inflated assets by more than $1 billion. The buyer gets control of about 50,000 employees servicing customers including Cisco Systems Inc. and Nestle SA.

“The price you are paying is really for the contracts and the employees,” said Kimberly Caughey, senior equity analyst at Fort Pitt Capital Group Inc. in Pittsburgh. “It’s costly to acquire new people through the regular HR mechanism, but to be able to do it in one fell swoop, I think that’s a real win.”

If other bids are within 10 percent of the highest offer, an open auction will be held to determine the winner, Satyam said April 2. The company will seek government approval of the new investor on April 15 and may hold a press conference by the end of this week, Chairman Kiran Karnik said yesterday.

Satyam Bidders

Larsen, India’s biggest engineering company, submitted a bid this morning, two people familiar with the matter said today. Larsen, Satyam’s largest shareholder with a 12 percent stake, sees the software-services company as a way of expanding unit L&T Infotech, Chairman A.M. Naik said in January.

Last week, Ross declined to confirm or deny reports he may bid. He has said earlier he was barred by Indian rules from talking about any interest in buying the software provider.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp., a Teaneck, New Jersey- based software company, may team up with Ross for a bid, the Business Standard newspaper reported April 4, citing a banker familiar with the developments. R. Ramkumar, a vice president at Cognizant, declined to comment today.

Satyam will open only those financial offers of bidders who have first qualified on technical grounds, Karnik said yesterday.

“Broadly, they must qualify on their governance record, merger-and-acquisitions history, and their vision for Satyam’s future,” Karnik said by telephone. Bidders must submit technical and financial details tomorrow, he said.

Withdrawn Rating for Satyam

Tech Mahindra, partly owned by BT Group Plc, last month had its debt rating withdrawn by Fitch Ratings, which cited uncertainties surrounding the bid.

Raju’s disclosure triggered probes including inquiries by India’s Serious Fraud Office and markets regulator and several lawsuits by investors in the U.S.

Concerns over lawsuits and lack of financial information prompted IGate Corp. to pull out from the bidding process last month. Satyam’s financial statements are being reviewed by KPMG and Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu after its former auditor, the Indian affiliate of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, said in January its audit reports on the software maker were no longer reliable.

India’s Central Bureau of Investigation on April 7 filed charges against founder Raju for his role in the fraud. The charges include criminal conspiracy and falsification of accounts and carry a maximum penalty of life in prison, CBI Deputy Inspector General V.V. Lakshmi Narayana said at the time. Raju’s brother and former managing director, Rama Raju, and two partners at Price Waterhouse, the audit company’s Indian affiliate, were among nine people charged.

Satyam Computers Losing Customers

Satyam has lost outsourcing contracts from about 46 customers to rivals such as International Business Machines Corp., Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. and Wipro Ltd., the Economic Times reported March 17, citing an unidentified person familiar with the developments.

The United Nations said March 23 it will terminate its existing contracts with Satyam. In January, State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co., the largest home and auto insurer in the U.S., canceled its order in the wake of the accounting scandal. Still, Cisco, the world’s largest maker of networking equipment, won’t scrap its contract with Satyam, Chief Executive Officer John Chambers said on Feb. 12.

Satyam may have also lost employees to customers and rivals. Bank of America Corp. may have hired as many as 300 people from Satyam, the Business Standard newspaper reported April 1, citing some of the employees without identifying them.

Satyam’s contracts and software engineers may still make it an interesting target, Fort Pitt’s Caughey said.

“It all goes back to the basic business,” Caughey said. “If the basic business is run soundly and they have good engineers working for them, it’s something that” a rival should pursue, she said.

Satyam Bid Result

Satyam Bid Result

Satyam Computers

Satyam bid for Maytas draws brickbats

Bangalore: India’s fourth largest IT bellwether Satyam Computer Services late Tuesday drew a barrage of criticism after it announced a decision to spend $1.6 billion (Rs.79.2 billion) to buy real estate and infrastructure firms run by the two sons of its founder-chairman B. Ramalinga Raju.

In a hurriedly convened conference call, investors and analysts questioned the move by the Hyderabad-based software exporter to pay large sums to acquire Maytas Properties and Maytas Infra linked to Raju and raised concerns about corporate governance at Satyam and its credibility in the eyes of clients and investors.

Wall Street made its displeasure known by pummeling the Satyam stock, which lost over 50 percent of its value on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) to $5.71 just over an hour after the opening bell early Tuesday.

Ramalinga Raju, however, justified the decision saying it was part of a “good diversification strategy” and that it was only “incidental” that the target companies were controlled by members of his family.

Satyam chief finance officer V. Srinivas would only say the valuation of the real estate company was undertaken by one of the “big four” auditing firms but declined to name which one.

The Rs.81 billion Satyam had cash and cash equivalents of Rs.53.12 billion at the end of second quarter (July-September) this fiscal.

Investors have also raised concerns over how Satyam would fund the proposed acquisition and its impact on its IT business.

Earlier, in a notification to the stock exchanges, Satyam said it would spend $1.3 billion (Rs.64.35 billion) to buy a 100 percent stake in real estate firm Maytas Properties and $300 million (Rs.14.85 billion) for a 51 percent stake in Maytas Infra.

The Hyderabad-based Maytas Properties is run by Rama Raju, the younger son of the Satyam founder, and Maytas Infrastructure by Teja Raju, the elder son.

“The acquisition of Maytas Properties will be immediate, while that of Maytas Infra will be in two phases. In the first phase 31 percent will be bought from promoters at Rs.475 per share and the remaining 20 percent from the public through an open offer to the investors of the listed firm at Rs.525 per share,” the company said in a notification.

Ramalinga Raju said the acquisitions would pave the way for accelerated growth in new geographies and market segments such as transportation, energy and infrastructure sectors for the core IT business.

“The buyout will de-risk the core business by bootstrapping a new business vertical in infrastructure. This market segment can mitigate the risks attributed to developed markets and traditional verticals that are likely to be impacted by the recessionary economy,” Ramalinga Raju said in a statement later.

Maytas Properties is a scale player in development of urban space infrastructure such as integrated townships, special economic zones, hospitality, retail and entertainment spaces in tier I and II cities across India.

The 23-year-old Maytas Infra is engaged in the business of infrastructure construction and asset development spanning core areas of economic growth such as highways, metro/railways, ports, transport management systems, airports, power, oil and gas, irrigation and water treatment.

Satyam bid

Satyam bidding

Satyam computers

Satyam

Satyam bid

Satyam bidding

Satyam computers

Satyam

The successful bid by Tech Mahindra to acquire scam-tainted Satyam Computers has started a new trading strategy in the bourses. While

most brokers ET spoke to, are wary of taking positional calls on either companies, the trading idea is to buy Infosys and TCS if the sectoral view is positive or short Tech Mahindra if the outlook on IT is negative.

At 12.40 pm, Tech Mahindra was trading 13.7% higher at Rs 364 while Satyam fared 7% higher at Rs 50.45. However the value was much lower than Tech Mahindra’s 52-week high of Rs 990 in May 2008.

Brokers said both counters witnessed sizeable trading volumes. “We’re not sure why the two counters are rallying so high. Positional calls of both stocks can only be taken post Infosys results,” said Networth Stock Broking research head Deepak Sawhney. “If Infosys comes out with good fiscal fourth quarter numbers and a fairly good sectoral outlook, then we’d be able to say Tech Mahindra’s acquisition of Satyam will benefit both the companies. If Q4 numbers are bad and outlook negative, the Satyam acquisition will weigh heavy on Tech Mahindra,” Mr Sawhney added.

On the valuation of the deal, Tech Mahindra offered Rs 58 per share for the Satyam bid, while engineering firm L&T made an offer of around Rs 49 for each Satyam share.

Invisibility cloak

Your dream of possessing a Harry Potter invisibility cloak could be just months away, at least that’s what a British scientist claims. Sir John Pendry, who pioneered the concept, believes that the cloak that can make an object disappear could be unveiled within next six months. “The first man-made cloak will be more like an invisibility “carpet”, the Sydney Morning Herald quoted Pendry as saying. As a tiny object is placed underneath it, it will seemingly disappear because the bump the object makes will be hidden from view with an artificial mirage. Pendry said that the new development would also prove the potential of metamaterials that have an unusual property to interact with light and electronic waves. These materials could be, in future, used for developing barriers to prevent waves damaging the shore, acoustic cloaks to reduce noise, stealth systems for the military, and faster telecommunications. They can be designed to hide things by bending radiation around an object as if it were not there, “like water flowing around a stone”, said Professor Pendry. Pendry had discussed about the new materials in a lecture in the US, backing it with the example of Harry Potter. “I said one of the interesting things they could do is hide things,” said Pendry. The example prompted David Smith of Duke University to build an invisibility cloak. “They went back and built the darn thing,” Pendry added. In 2006, he unveiled the first cloak, which steered radiation around a copper cylinder, making it invisible to microwave detection.

“I am optimistic work in progress will produce an optical cloak in the next six months,” said Pendry.

A vending machine that bakes fresh pizza in minutes for a few euros has got Italian chefs in a whirl before it hits the streets in the coming weeks.

The bright-red “Let’s Pizza” machine uses infra-red rays and technology developed at the University of Bologna to knead flour and water into dough, spread it with tomato sauce and a choice of topping, and cook it — all in less than three minutes.

Its developer, Claudio Torghele, says the machine has proved popular in trials in two Italian regions, but gourmets say it is an affront to traditional methods of cooking the classic dish.

“This is not just a vending machine, it’s a mini-pizzeria,” said Torghele, 56. “It has windows where you can watch the pizza-making process. Kids, including my own, love it: when the machine is working, there’s always a crowd.”

The device was developed with help from Anglo-Dutch group Unilever, which tested it in Germany, Torghele said. He hopes to launch the machines across Europe and in the United States, with ingredients varying according to local tastes.

At present it offers four toppings — cheese and tomato, bacon, ham and fresh vegetables — at an average cost of 4 euros. Torghele thinks “Let’s Pizza” will appeal to Europeans looking for cheap options as a recession hits their pockets. “If I want to eat a great pizza, I go to a pizzeria. But our product is satisfactory, low cost and available 24-hours a day,” he said. “This is crisis proof … McDonald’s is increasing its sales. Low cost, fast food is in demand.”

Italy is famed for its cuisine and has seen a movement develop against fast food, called “Slow Food.” But it has more vending machines than any other country in Europe, according to an industry body, mostly doling out hot coffee drinks.

Purists say the Italian pizza — invented in the 18th century in the southern city of Naples — cannot be rushed: the dough must be mixed and left for 12 hours, the ingredients kept fresh, and the oven pre-heated to around 300 degrees.

“This machine is a toy,” Pino Morelli of the Association of Italian Pizzerias said. “Perhaps it will find a niche overseas, but Italians are born with pizza: their mothers feed it to them as babies. They understand it.”

In Pizzeria Brandi, nestling near the center of ramshackle Naples, the reaction to Torghele’s invention was cool.

The restaurant invented the pizza Margherita in 1889 in honor of the queen of the newly unified country, its tomato, mozzarella and basil toppings mimicking Italy’s flag.

“Unfortunately, today people invent many things, but you can’t make any comparison, especially in terms of quality,” said chef Marcello, taking a break from sliding pizzas on a wooden pole into the dome-shaped oven. “The only benefit is the price.”

“We should scrap this ‘pizza machine’ and bring back the old jukeboxes: at least they were charming,” said Paolo Pagnani, who owns the historic restaurant.

GYMBOX - A GYM in London has replaced its dumbbells with human weights who shout encouragement to exercisers.

Gymbox at Bank - in the centre of the capital’s financial district - today introduced its bizarre fitness regime with human weights ranging from a 155kg man to a 30kg female.

The human dumbbells wear black leotards with their weights printed across their chests and sit on adapted machines to let the weightlifter visualise what they are lifting.

Gymbox owner Richard Hilton said it wasn’t a gimmick but rather about having a human weightlifting device as the “ultimate embodiment of visualisation theory”.

“Creating a mental image or intention of what you want to happen or feel is proven to improve physical and psychological performance,” Mr Hilton said.

“We’re optimistic our members will see better results with our new human weight machine.”

The gym boss said the troupe would also shout encouragement.

The human weights range from “Dainty Diva” Arti Shah, 32, who weighs just 30kg, up to “Super Human” Matt Barnard, 37, who weighs 155kg. Other men and women in between weigh 55, 65 and 75 kilograms.

The gym has also been offering classes called “‘chav fighting” and “WAG workouts” designed to make women more attractive to footballers.

Robot Aiko

SHE is the perfect wife, with the body of a Page 3 pin-up and housekeeping skills that put all other wives to shame.

Her name is Aiko, she can even read a map, and will never, ever, nag. Sounds too good to be true, doesn’t she fellas? And she is. Aiko is actually a robot, a fantasy brought to life by inventor Le Trung. Devoted Aiko — “in her 20s” — has a stunning 32-23-33 figure, pretty face and shiny hair. She is always happy to clean the house for “husband” Le, help with his accounts or get him a drink. Computer ace Le, 33, from Ontario, Canada, has spent two years and £14,000 building his dream girl. He had planned to make an android to care for the elderly. But his project — inspired by sci-fi robots like Star Wars’s C3PO — strayed off-course. Le said: “Aiko is what happens when science meets beauty.” Robo-wife Aiko starts the day by reading Le the main newspaper headlines. The couple often go for a drive in the countryside, where Aiko proves a whizz at directions. And they always sit down for dinner together in the evening, although Aiko doesn’t have much of an appetite. Le says his relationship with Aiko hasn’t strayed into the bedroom, but a few “tweaks” could turn her into a sexual partner. Le said: “Her software could be redesigned to simulate her having an orgasm.” Aiko can already react to being tickled or touched. She also recognises faces and speaks 13,000 sentences. Now Le is seeking a sponsor to help him overcome the robot-maker’s biggest challenge — making Aiko walk like a human. Once Aiko has been perfected, Le hopes to sell clones for use as home-helps. He said: “Aiko doesn’t need holidays, food or rest, and will work almost 24 hours a day. She is the perfect woman.” Aiko sparks mixed reactions in public.

Le said: “Women usually try to talk to her. But men always want to touch her, and if they do it the wrong way she slaps them.”

India’s Bindra wins gold in Olympics - the Men’s 10m Air Rifle for India.

(BEIJING, August 11) — India’s Abhinav Bindra won the gold medal in the Men’s 10m Air Rifle in Beijing on August 11 with an incredible performance in the final. Bindra shot a total score of 700.5.

China’s Zhu Qinan, gold medalist at Athens 2004, won the silver medal with a total score of 699.7.

The bronze medal was won by Finland’s Henri Hakkinen, who was leading the field after the qualification round, but was unable to hold off Bindra and Zhu in the final. The Finnish shooter shot a total of 699.4.

Hakkinen shot 598 in the qualification round, giving him a one point lead over Zhu. Bindra was one point further back with 596.

Bindra

Bindra signals his intentions early in the final, with a 10.7 on his first shot. None of Bindra’s shots in the final dropped below 10.0.

Hakkinen’s performance in the final was solid, but it needed to be better. He averaged 10.14 per shot in the final, compared to Bindra’s 10.45.

Going into the last shot, Bindra and Hakkinen were tied for first place, but Bindra secured the gold medal with his best shot of the final, an outstanding 10.8.

Conversely, Hakkinen’s last shot was his worst, a lowly 9.7. This allowed Zhu to overcome Hakkinen and win the silver medal. Zhu shot 10.5 on his last shot.

Zhu will be disappointed that did not become the first shooter to win two gold medals in the Men’s 10m Air Pistol. However, he was unable to reproduce his best – Zhu holds the Olympic record for the final score in the event, the 702.7 that he shot at Athens 2004.

Bindra, a Khel Ratna awardee, finished the qualifying event joint fourth with Romania’s George Alin Moldoveanu after the duo shot a score of 596/600.

Earlier, Bindra ended the poor run of Indian shooters at the Beijing Olympics by qualifying for the men’s 10m air rifle event finals. Bindra, a Khel Ratna awardee, finished the qualifying event joint fourth with Romania’s George Alin Moldoveanu after the duo shot a score of 596/600.

The bespectacled shooter managed a series of 100,99,100,98,100 and 99.

However, Gagan Narang failed to make the final cut in the same event finishing ninth with a score of 595/600. Narang shot a series of 97,100,100,100,98,100.

Abhinav Bindra:

“I have worked hard for this. It was my day. I have always believed that I could do this and am happy to have done it. I have been in the sport for ten years, and I know that the difference between winning and losing is not much. I didn’t do anything very different today.”

said Abhinav, who has been battling with a career-threatening back problem in recent months.

Namaste Solar Electric

Unique business aims to spread the use of Solar Power !

Namaste \’nah-mah-stay\: [Sanskrit] = Greeting of great respect, celebrating the interdependence of all living things.

Namaste Solar Electric is an employee-owned solar electric company dedicated to the betterment of the planet by bringing clean, reliable, and affordable renewable energy technologies to homes, businesses, and nonprofits throughout the Denver/Boulder area. Integrating both holistic and traditional business methods, Namaste Solar is the leading solar electric company in Colorado. With a values-based business model and reputation for philanthropy, Namaste Solar is a likely partner for homeowners and local businesses that want to make a positive impact on the community by purchasing a solar electric system.

Blake Jones, after three years in Nepal, returned to the USA in early 2005 to co-found Namaste Solar and implement solar PV projects in Colorado.

His business plan for Namaste Solar Electric, was so unusual; he confounded a lot of business experts !

• Environmental concerns would be a driving force in every aspect of the Namaste Solar.
• Six weeks of paid time off !
• A concept called FOH - frank, open and honest - to help eliminate gossip and grudges.
• Employees, no matter what their job description, have the same pay scale.
• One percent of yearly revenues go to solar systems donated to community groups.
• All major decisions would be made by consensus of all company employees.

How Namaste Solar Electric makes it work:

Solar photovoltaic (PV) cells convert sunlight (photons) into electricity (voltage) via the “photovoltaic effect.” They are made of semi-conducting materials, the most common being silicon, which is the second most abundant element on the planet, exceeded only by oxygen. Solar PV technology has been commercially used since the 1950s and has long been used to power calculators, satellites, road signs, phone call boxes, remote industrial applications, remote homes & cabins, etc. Due to decreasing prices via economies of scale and increasing government support, solar PV is now more cost-effective than ever for residential and commercial applications in urban areas.

Grid-tie solar electric systems are installed on homes and businesses where the electricity grid is available. They interface seamlessly with the electricity grid, allowing excess power that is produced from the sun during the day to be sold back to the utility company. When this happens, your electric meter spins backwards to give you retail credit for the electricity you produced. At night or during cloudy weather, your home or business takes power from the grid as normal, thereby spinning your meter forwards again. Each day your electric meter will spin backwards and forwards as part of “net-metering,” which allows you to reduce your electric bill to a “net-zero” on a monthly or annual basis. Going solar is a quick and easy process, requiring no changes to your lifestyle or to the internal wiring of your home or business. Each month, you’ll feel good about your lower electric bill and the positive difference you’re making for our environment.

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