Satyam's new board on Saturday decided to invite bids from strategic investors to steer the company and fire its statutory auditor Price Waterhouse, which failed to detect a massive accounting fraud in the IT giant.
The decision of the government-appointed board will allow suitors to make formal offers to acquire Satyam, whose books, according to its founder B Ramalinga Raju, was fudged for many years.
Engineering giant Larsen and Toubro has acquired over 12 per cent stake in Satyam through open market transactions, while BK Modi-led Spice Corp has said it was interested in acquiring a controlling 51 per cent stake in the IT major -- ranked the fourth largest before the fraud came to light.
The Company Law Board on Thursday gave its nod for sale of a minimum 26 per cent stake in Satyam.
A statement from Satyam said the board, chaired by Kiran Karnik, also recommended to the government the removal of auditor Price Waterhouse and appointment of a new bookkeeper.
PW's partners S Gopalakrishnan and Talluri Srinivas, who were handling the Satyam account, are currently in judicial custody awaiting trial.
{{/usCountry}}PW's partners S Gopalakrishnan and Talluri Srinivas, who were handling the Satyam account, are currently in judicial custody awaiting trial.
{{/usCountry}}The statement also said Satyam has received new orders worth US$ 250 in the last seven weeks.