Gurkanth Desai, the protagonist in the motion picture GURU says “ If people start talking against you…think you are making progress” . This is true of what happened over the last few days for Satyam Computer Services. Satyam’s board had decided to acquire Maytas Properties and Maytas constructions and this invited the wrath of the investor community. Both international and domestic (Indian) investors had a lot so say, which they should have in a better way.

A lot of retail investors were also angry at the management for taking such a landmark decision to wipe out Satyam’s cash and pump it into a rather unrelated industry.
I have been following this story from Day zero and my thoughts have been rather mixed. Initially I could not see a sound logic for the kind of synergies that such a move would establish, however as I deliberated the matter in combination of what I know of the company and the aggressive growth appetite there is, I have framed my opinion. Read on. [click to continue...]