To settle a U.S. suit, Mahindra Satyam paying $125 Million

Bangalore: Mahindra Satyam has agreed to pay $125 million to settle a shareholder lawsuit filed against it in the southern district court of New York. The company also stated that it will sue its founder B Ramalinga Raju and former auditor PricewaterhouseCoopers(PwC) for committing a financial fraud at the former Satyam Computer Services.

Mahindra Satyam Chairman Vineet Nayyer said the amount is lesser than the company had anticipated and it will be delivered to the plaintiffs once the court judge gives final approval to the settlement deal. The settlement came just as the company reported a doubling of net profit to 58.9 crore for the three months ended December from the preceding quarter.

Although the firm said it will sue its former auditor PwC, Nayyar did give any timeline or damage amounts for suing PwC. He, however, did not rule the possibilities of an out-of-court settlement with the auditing firm. He said the company will also sue Raju and his associates for the damage they caused to the company, but did not elaborate on it.

According to the Bombay Stock Exchange, the settlement is exclusively for and on behalf of the company and does not affect the other defendants to the class action litigation. The settlement amount includes lawyer's fees and taxes that may arise out of the payment. Nayyer opined that the company was in negotiations with the plaintiffs for some time and the settlement may end all potential cases in the U.S.

It was reported that there were four lead plaintiffs in the U.S. and one of them acted as the main party for the negotiations.

Report from Silicon India