L&T in no hurry to sell Satyam stake: CFO

Larsen & Toubro today said it was in no hurry to sell its 6.9 per cent stake in Mahindra Satyam, although the failed bidder for the IT company had earlier asked market regulator Sebi to relax a six-month lock-in period for offloading shares.

Larsen & Toubro on Monday said it was in no hurry to sell its 6.9 per cent stake in Mahindra Satyam, although the failed bidder for the IT company had earlier asked market regulator Sebi to relax a six-month lock-in period for offloading shares.

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“We are not selling our stake in Mahindra Satyam and there is no intention to sell our stake (immediately),” L&T Chief Financial Officer YM Deosthalee said on Monday.

Sebi rules bar L&T, which had made a failed bid for Satyam Computer, from selling stake in the company for six months from the final bid date to insulate the scrip from volatility.

This was also because as a bidder, L&T had access to the books of Satyam.

There is a lock-in period and “we have applied for relaxation... We will take a call after the deadline. We have not decided as of now,” Deosthalee said, responding to a query.

L&T, which was a minority shareholder in Satyam, had raised its stake to nearly 12 per cent through open market transactions in the run-up to the sale of the scam-hit firm.

L&T’s Rs 42 a share offer for Satyam was outbid by Tech Mahindra’s Rs 58 a share bid in April.

L&T’s stake in Mahindra Satyam had subsequently fallen to 6.9 per cent based on the enhanced share capital.