Rajus Satyam stake falls to 3.6 per cent

The position of Satyam Computer Services promotors B Ramalinga Raju and his family in the company...

Listen to this article

00:00

1x 1.5x 1.8x

The position of Satyam Computer Services promotors B Ramalinga Raju and his family in the company has weakened further with the promoter stake in the IT firm dropping further to 3.60 per cent following the share sale by lenders,with whom all the promoters equity has been pledged.

In a disclosure to the stock exchanges,Satyam said that the stake of Rajus holding firm SRSR Holdings in Satyam has come down to 3.60 per cent from 5.13 per cent due to the sale of shares pledged by the promoters to lenders for raising funds.

The lenders have sold over 1.02 crore Satyam shares (1.53%),which were pledged by the promoters,in open market transactions. After the sale,SRSR Holdings now have 2.42 crore shares representing 3.60 per cent stake in Satya m,which includes over 1.16 crore pledged shares already transferred to lenders,the filing added. Raju’s family had held 8.27 per cent through SRSR Holdings at the end of September quarter.

Story continues below this ad

According to market sources,the stake sale by the lenders could be to cover margin calls. “A borrower (the Rajus in this case) receives a margin call from a broker or lender if the securities he had bought (with borrowed money) or the securities he had pledged for raising money decreased in value past a certain point. He would be forced either to deposit more money in the account or to sell off some of borrower’s assets. The broker or lender may sell securities without contacting the borrower first. This normally happens when the share prices fall steeply,” said a source.

Last week,the company had said that SRSR Holdings’ stake in Satyam has come down to 5.13 per cent due to the sale of shares pledged by the promoters to lenders for raising funds. On last Friday institutional investors had sold 3.14 per cent stake in the company.

The promoters had pledged their entire equity holding of 8.61 per cent to the institutional investors which include ICICI Prudential,Aberdeen Asset Management and Fidelity. The institutional investors together hold 60 per cent stake in the IT major.

In another filing,IL&FS Trust Company said it has sold over 2.45 crore shares,representing 3.64 per cent stake,of Satyam Computer Services within a fortnight in open market transactions. The market value of this stake,which was held by IL&FS on behalf of various lenders,at the current market price of Rs 179.10 on the BSE works out to Rs 439 crore.

Story continues below this ad

IL&FS Trust sold 2,45,20,500 Satyam shares in its capacity as trustee for debenture holders and lenders which include DSP Merrill Lynch,DSP Blackrock,Deutsche Bank,HDFC Mutual Fund and IL&FS Financial Services,Satyam said in a filing to the stock exchanges today. The pledged Satyam shares have been sold by IL&FS on specific written instructions of the said debenture holders and lenders, the filing added.

The Rajus which were holding over 25 per cent in the company in 2001 reduced their stake over the years.