Wellington tech firm moves to India

June 23rd, 2009 Indian outsourcer Mahindra Satyam gets new CEOMUMBAI, India — Mahindra Satyam, a rebranded Indian outsourcing company nearly brought down in a $1 billion fraud, said Tuesday that C.P. Gurnani, an executive from its new controlling shareholder, has been appointed chief executive.

April 18th, 2009 IT major Tech Mahindra, which needs to pay Rs.1,756 crore for acquiring 31 percent stake in the troubled IT firm Satyam Computer Services, Saturday said it has raised Rs.600 crore through debt instrument.The government-appointed board of Satyam Monday named Venturbay - a subsidiary of Tech Mahindra - as the winner of the auction to sell a majority stake in the fraud-hit IT giant.Under the share subscription agreement signed by the winning bidder and the board, Tech Mahindra will have to deposit the bid amount in an escrow account by April 21. Tech Mahindra will also make an open offer for another 20 percent stake in Satyam at Rs.58 per share for controlling stake (51 percent).

April 13th, 2009 MUMBAI - Tech Mahindra, the IT arm of auto major Mahindra and Mahindra, Monday won the bid for India's fourth largest software exporter Satyam Computer. Satyam's new board of directors, which met here to select the highest bidder, chose Tech Mahindra following its bid of Rs.1,757 crore ($351.4 million) for 31 percent stake in the scam-tainted IT giant.

March 5th, 2009 CHENNAI - Global audit firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) is cleaning up its Indian stables in the wake of the accounting scandal in Satyam Computer Services. According to a statement by the firm, an advisory board is being set up to provide guidance to the PwC leadership on its strategy and actions.

April 12th, 2009 BANGALORE - India's fourth largest software exporter Satyam Computer will get a new buyer Monday, a little over three months after its founder B. Ramalinga Raju shocked India Inc by admitting massive financial fraud of Rs.7,800 crore (Rs.78 billion).

April 21st, 2009 Tech Mahindra Limited, which is taking over Satyamomputer Services Limited in a deal worth about 580 million dollars, has said that it would run the fraud-hit outsourcing firm as a standalone unit. Tech Mahindra said its immediate priority was to retain and win back lost clients of Satyam and the company intended to meet key customers across the world.

March 12th, 2009 MUMBAI - IT services major Tech Mahindra has registered its interest in bidding for 51 percent stake in scam-hit Satyam Computers, it was announced Thursday. 'In line with the process set out by the board of Satyam Computer Services, Tech Mahindra, on March 12, 2009, registered its interest in participating in the bidding process.

January 27th, 2009 BANGALORE - Norwest Venture Partners (NVP), promoted by angel investor Promod Haque, will invest Rs.200 million (Rs.20 crore) in infrastructure management services firm Appnomic Systems, it was announced here Wednesday. The venture fund will be invested to expand into the US market and build innovative product and service offerings, the Bangalore-based Appnomic said in a statement.

September 7th, 2009 MUMBAI - Software outsourcer Tech Mahindra will provide telecom operator Etisalat DB with IT solutions and infrastructure requirements for its proposed services rollout in 15 telecom circles, it was announced here Monday. The contract, valued at Rs.2,000 crore or $400 million, is valid for 10 years, Etisalat DB, earlier known as Swan Telecom, said in a statement.

January 16th, 2009 CHENNAI - The government-appointed board of Satyam Computer Services Limited will have to define the scope of work for the city-based Brahmayya & Co that has been appointed as the beleaguered IT bellweather's internal auditor, an official of the accounting firm said Saturday. 'We were sounded out about the assignment by the authorities and we gave our consent.

March 20th, 2009 HYDERABAD - The Satyam board met on Friday to assess the proposals of the bidders for acquiring up to 51% stake in the embattled IT company, and discuss several other issues. The Government-appointed company board has received several expressions of interest, including those from engineering major Larsen and Toubro, B K Modi-led Spice Group, software firm Tech Mahindra and iGate, a company official said after the meeting.

April 20th, 2009 NEW DELHI - India's business process outsourcing (BPO) industry will double its revenues in less than two years despite the economic slowdown and protectionist measures of western countries, a report by analyst firm Gartner said Monday. The top 20 India-centric BPO service providers accounted for $4 billion in revenue in 2008, representing 5 percent of the $80-billion revenue of the top 150 BPO companies in the world.

January 14th, 2009 MUMBAI - Indian IT firms received another jolt Thursday when Canada-based Nortel Networks, one of North America's largest telecom equipment firm and an important client for outsourcing firms here, filed for bankruptcy. Among the biggies of Indian outsourcing firms that are expected to bear the heat of the development are Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Wipro, Infosys and Sasken Communication Technologies, industry sources said.

March 17th, 2009 BANGALORE - The State Bank of India (SBI) group deployed 3i Infotech software to prevent money laundering in compliance with the central bank's regulatory order, the bank said Tuesday. 'We have contracted with IT software product firm 3i Infotech to deploy its anti-money laundering solution across our group comprising SBI and six associate banks to monitor any suspicious transfer of money, including terror financing,' SBI chief general manager B.S.

July 21st, 2009 NEW DELHI - City-based e-governance firm MGRM has tied up with Bell ID, an identity card solutions provider headquartered in the Netherlands, to tap emerging opportunities in e-governance and identity management verticals in India. The joint venture will become operational in the next quarter or as soon as necessary formalities are completed, MRGM said in a statement.