1 auction, 48,000 scared workers

Instead of relief, Satyam workers now have a new boss and no protection from lay offs. Aditya Anand reports on the apprehension that followed Tech Mahindra's winning bid

Instead of relief, Satyam workers now have a new boss and no protection from lay offs. Aditya Anand reports on the apprehension that followed Tech Mahindra's winning bid

After spending months in turmoil, fraud-hit Satyam employees were expecting yesterday's auction to finally

And the company goes to... Satyam board member Deepak Parekh announces Tech Mahindra as the highest bidder at a press conference at the Taj President, yesterday. PIC/BIPIN KOKARE

allay their fears. But the 48,000-strong workforce has been left even more jittery after Tech Mahindra emerged as the highest bidder for Satyam.

Contrary to their expectations, they realised that they would not be protected by a no-lay-off clause from the new owners. The Satyam board had not stuck their neck out on protecting jobs and had left it to the new owners to decide.

Now, unwilling to leave things to chance, several freshers have formed a union to convince the new management about their viewpoint.

The convener of Satyam's newly formed union, Varun P, said, "The new management will come in with its own set of managers. They will study the situation thoroughly and might go in for optimisation of human resources. This might also create some friction at the top level."

Clients first

Tech Mahindra chairman Anand Mahindra remained non-committal on lay-offs and said his company would work hard at developing business for Satyam and ensuring that existing clients don't bid goodbye, thus, negating the need to resize the workforce.

Both Mahindra and Vineet Nayyar, Tech Mahindra's vice-chairman and CEO, emphasised that they were Satyam's best suitor. "Customers will get the highest priority. In fact, I will travel to meet both big and small clients that Satyam has been servicing," said Mahindra.u00a0

A game of numbers
The bids
Rs 58 - The per share price that Tech Mahindra offered
Rs 45.90 - The per share price that Larsen and Toubro, which was seen as the front-runner, offered
Rs 20 - The per share price that Cognizant Technology Solutions offered

The deal
31%u00a0 - The Satyam stake that Tech Mahindra won in the auction
20% - The quota of shares in the company that Tech Mahindra will purchase from the open market to get the controlling stake of 51%
Rs 28.9 billion - The amount the entire deal is expected to cost Tech Mahindra

'We have faith in Satyam's future
3 SAWAAL
Anand Mahindra
Tech Mahindra Chairman
1. What made Mahindra bid for Satyam?
Quite naturally, the faith in the future of Satyam. It is an outstanding delivery model.

2. Any re-branding plans for Satyam?
We are not yet the winning bidder. Mahindra is only the highest bidder, so it isu00a0 too early to say.

3. How will you u00a0bring Satyam back on track?
I will personally reach out to the top brass of all big and small Satyam clients including Citigroup, General Motors, Cisco to restore customer confidence.