Who is buying Satyam shares?

MUMBAI: Satyam was clearly the focus of all speculative action on the stock markets on Friday, before the bourses recessed for the weekend. Rumours about who could be buying into the stock flew thick and fast as 30 crore of Satyam shares changed hands. Since most institutional investors had dumped Satyam shares over the past two trading sessions, market players were eager to know who bought those shares.

Although a definite answer to this is possible only after the settlements are completed next week, the rumours persisted. On Friday, Satyam's stock on the NSE touched an all-time low of Rs 6.30 and closed at Rs 23.75, down over 40% on the day. Of the 30 crore shares traded, about 8 crore shares, or about 12% of the company's total shareholding , were marked for delivery.

While market players speculated if construction major L&T was buying additional shares of the troubled IT major, names of two other corporate houses one based in Mumbai with interests in telecom, financial services, power & infrastructure and entertainment, and the other in Kolkata were doing the rounds.

Market players were, however, divided if any corporate house would touch Satyam now. For some, the main deterrents are the imminent legal cases in India as well as the US class action lawsuits against Satyam and its directors, head of a domestic financial services company said. ‘‘Probably corporates would look at buying only parts of the company's businesses but not the whole of the company. Taking over the whole of the company could also mean taking on its now undefinable liabilities'' the company official said.

However, with Satyam's stock price at sub-Rs 25 level and the company valued at about Rs 1,600 crore, there could be some bravehearts, including seasoned speculators and arbitrageurs to bet on a turnaround, the head of institutional services at a local brokerage said.

‘‘If the day's low was Rs 6.30, the average price for some could be in the Rs 10-15 region. At that level you could always find someone willing to take a bet on a definitive turnaround in the company and hence multiple profits,'' said the official. Another head of a local brokerage with substantial presence in the retail broking space also confirmed that some of the company's clients were buying into the counter.

If past instances are anything to go by, then such speculative activity is possible. In 2004, when RBI announced the merger of hugely mismanaged Global Trust Bank with PSU major Oriental Bank of Commerce, the stock price of GTB had fallen to as low as 78 paise. At that time, it was almost clear that GTB shareholders will not get anything from the takeover by OBC.