BANGALORE BUREAU, 21 JUNE 2009 - Embattled Indian outsourcer Satyam Computer Services plans to use a new brand, Mahindra Satyam, to reflect its new ownership.
Mahindra Satyam will be only a go-to-market brand, while the company's name stays the same, a Satyam spokesman said on Sunday.
Tech Mahindra, an outsourcing company of India's Mahindra Group, has acquired a 31 percent stake in Satyam. Tech Mahindra made the acquisition through a wholly owned subsidiary called Venturbay Consultants.
Tech Mahindra and Venturbay also made an open offer earlier this month to buy 20 percent more of the equity in Satyam from existing shareholders.
Satyam was plunged into a crisis in January after the company's founder, B. Ramalinga Raju, stated that the company had inflated profits for several years.
A new board, appointed by the government in January, decided to auction off a majority share in the company to a strategic investor, and selected Tech Mahindra as the highest bidder.
The new brand reflects that Satyam is now part of the Mahindra Group, said the company spokesman.
It may also be an attempt to distance the company from the financial scandal, according to analysts.
"This rebranding exercise symbolizes an amalgamation of the Mahindra Group's values with Satyam's fabled expertise, even as it retains that part of Satyam's identity which signifies commitment, purpose and proficiency of the organization and its people," said Anand Mahindra, vice chairman and managing director of Mahindra Group, in a statement on Sunday.
