SATYAM CAN MUSTER UPTO RS 20,000CR FOR AGGRESSIVE ACQUISITIONS

New Delhi
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Loaded with huge amount of cash, Satyam Computer on Thursday said it has accelerated the hunt for prospective companies that it could acquire globally even if the cost runs into billions of dollars.

Sensing opportunities arising out of the financial crisis triggered by fall of major banks and mortgage giants in the US, Satyam's founder and Chairman B Ramalinga Raju said in an interview that it is possible to raise 4-5 billion dollars as war-chest for acquisitions that strategically fit India's fourth largest IT entity.

Raju said the company had a billion-dollar cash surplus and funds were not any issue when any potential acquisition opportunities came around. "The acquisition could be even in billions of dollars".

Asked if its next bid could be a billion-dollar deal as it could easily muster around Rs 15,000-20,000 crore by leveraging its Rs 4,000-crore cash pile, Raju said, "That is a possibility".

On whether it has asked its advisors and bankers to hunt for potential targets given cheaper acquisition opportunities in the backdrop of falling market valuations across the world markets, he said, "We have accelerated the process... the valuations have become more attractive than what they used to be".

Loaded with reserves and surplus of over Rs 7,000 crore at the end of last fiscal, the company's guidance (target) is to reach about Rs 11,000 crore (2.6-2.7 billion dollar) of revenue in the current fiscal. It had recently acquired an entity for 280 million dollars.

Satyam's revenue grew to 2.14 billion dollars in the latest fiscal FY08, up from 1.46 billion dollars in FY07.

Noting that acquisitions were an integral part of its growth strategy and would continue to remain so, Raju said Satyam is not putting any boundaries in terms of size, geography or sector focus in its search for potential targets.

"When it comes to acquisitions, the operative word is synergy and wherever we find significant synergies, we are open for acquisitions," he said, adding the option for the company was most likely to be buying in cash.