This article is more than 1 year old

Satyam finds bankers to find it funding

And now knows how many people it employs

Indian outsourcer Satyam has appointed two investment banks to help it find long term funding.

Avendus and Goldman Sachs are talking to banks and are dealing with immediate operating expenses. Satyam has also lined up cash for January salaries from money received.

Board member T N Manoharan said Satyam had received proposals from businesses and private equity firms. He said some were interested in buying parts of Satyam's business, but for now the board was only looking at keeping the company as a going concern, as required by the Indian government, rather than splitting it up.

The board is also working with Boston Consulting Group to look at Satyam's management structure.

The company has now established how many staff it employs and "numbers reported earlier are accurate" - company founder Ramalinga Raju admitted adding 13,000 imaginary people to the company's payroll in order to explain increased sales and so he could pocket their wages.

Manoharan said moves by construction firm Larsen and Toubro Ltd, which has increased its stake in Satyam from four to 12 per cent, were just one of several bids the firm had received.

The board insists it is still receiving messages of support from customers and that the measures it was taking would “bring back the glory Satyamites truly deserve”.

In related news, the boss of PwC's head of audit for India has resigned. Thomas Mathew was not directly connected to events at Satyam, although PwC did audit the firm. Two other partners, interviewed by police over the scandal, have been suspended, the Times reports. ®

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