Auditor for Mahindra Satyam-Tech Mahindra merger
HYDERABAD, Dec 07, 2012 (Menafn - Mint - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) --The Andhra Pradesh high court on Thursday decided to appoint an independent auditor to scrutinise the scheme of amalgamation related to the merger of information technology services provider Mahindra Satyam and its parent company Tech Mahindra Ltd.
The single bench headed by justice Sanjay Kumar queried the share swap ratio that had been arrived at.
In November, a group of minority shareholders of Mahindra Satyam (officially known as Satyam Computer Services Ltd) filed a petition in the high court opposing the proposed share-swap ratio, among other issues.
The petitioners requested the court to revise the ratio that gives shareholders two Tech Mahindra shares for every 17 owned in Mahindra Satyam. The petitioners didn't oppose the merger.
"The court said there is need for appointment of an independent auditor to review the scheme of amalgamation," said Ashok Ponnam Goud, assistant solicitor general, representing the state government.
The court had clubbed the merger petition filed by Mahindra Satyam and the minority shareholders' opposition petition.
Mahindra Satyam counsel Pushyam Kiran said the matter was pending and declined to comment. The Mahindra Satyam spokesperson declined to comment on the case.
Earlier, the boards of Mahindra Satyam and Tech Mahindra had approved the merger and proposed a swap ratio of 2:17.
Both BSE and the National Stock Exchange have given their approval for the merger. The Competition Commission of India has also given its approval.
The merger needs to be cleared by Andhra Pradesh high court and the Bombay high court. When completed, the merger will form an entity that is expected to be the country's fifth-largest software firm with an annual revenue of about 2.4 billion. The case will come up for hearing Friday.
Mahindra Satyam declined 1.38% to Rs100.20 on BSE, while the benchmark Sensex rose 0.49% to 19,486.80 points.
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