Two firms appeal against TechM, Mahindra Satyam merger order

Two arms of IL&FS Engineering and Construction Company have moved the Andhra Pradesh High Court, appealing against the single judge’s order on the Mahindra Satyam-Tech Mahindra amalgamation last month.

Ekadanta Greenfields and Saptaswara Agro Farms Private Ltd have filed two different petitions with the court asking it to allow the appeal and set aside the order given by the judge on June 11. They submitted to the court that their objections (to the merger) were not considered fully.

The court had allowed the Mahindra group companies to merge, after dismissing the petitions that challenged the merger proposal. While Ekadanta had argued that scam-tainted Satyam Computer Services borrowed money from it during the Ramalinga Raju (Satyam founder-Chairman) regime, some minority shareholders had opposed the merger saying that the swap ratio went against their interests.

Ekadanta, an arm of IL&FS Engineering and Construction Company (formerly Maytas Infra owned by the kin of Ramalinga Raju), had sought for winding up of the IT firm, claiming that it lent Rs 37 crore as advance. The new management of Satyam had contended that the claim was untenable as the advances were not reported in the books.

Consequent to the court nod, the Mahindras have absorbed Satyam Computer Services into Tech Mahindra, making it the fifth largest IT company in the country. Two weeks after getting the order, Tech Mahindra submitted the certified copies to the Registrar of Companies, legally completing the merger process.

kurmanath.kanchi@thehindu.co.in

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