Satyam bid: cognizant gains higher chance..

Hours before the final lap of the Satyam bids, US-based IT services company Cognizant is holding a crucial meeting in Hyderabad.

According to information available exclusively with we the cognizites, Cognizant CEO Francisco D'souza flew in to Hyderabad on Friday to hold a senior management call on Satyam. He also addressed the trainees in the campus. Surprisingly this was his first visit to the centre since its inception.

The move is interesting because Cognizant, so far, has not made any formal comment on the Satyam bid.

Cognizant was incorporated as a 26% partnership between Satyam and the Dun and Bradsheet Group in 1994. Now, with over $924 million in cash, the offshoot of Satyam is gearing up to gobble the parent.

D'souza said Coginzant is best equipped to handle the Satyam bid, and the company has enough cash to acquire Satyam.

UTVi has learnt that two bidders - Wilbur Ross and Tech Mahindra - are unlikely to bid for Satyam. That leaves only two players - L&T and Cognizant - in the race to acquire 51% stake in Satyam.

The new onwer is likely to be announced tomorrow(13/04/2009). The deal is expected to be based on a share price between Rs 55-60, and the valuation of the company is expected to be around $2.4 billion.