You heard it first on NDTV Profit that the promoters of Patni Computer Systems have finally made up their mind to sell their stakes but the big question is who will buy the stake.
It seems like L&T Infotech, a global IT services and solutions provider, who lost out on Satyam, may emerge as a strong contender.
NDTV has learnt from sources that the talks are on between L&T Infotech and Patni Computer Systems for a possible buyout.
"We'll not mention specific names but last year has been difficult for all IT companies. If one wants to grow become significant we are looking at all kinds of opportunities," said Y M Deosthali, CFO of L&T.
While L&T may not have acquired Satyam, they have managed to acquire one of their top talents. Keshab Panda, part of Satyam's leadership council, has come into the L&T fold as chief executive of IT enabled services. Panda will be of great help to Naik pursue his mergers and acquisitions plans in the IT space.
Besides L&T Infotech, there are host of suitors who may still be interested in an asset like Patni which has similar offerings as Satyam.
Also as we reported earlier, global companies like Dell and IBM are front-runners in race for Patni. Analysts insist it is the likes of L&T Infotech which have a bigger strategic interest and may stretch their bid to win over Patni.
"The valuation of an IT company is not dependent on the PAT but what kind of revenue or scale it can get in the future. Indian companies like L&T Infotech and Mahindra Satyam may want to look at Patni," said Sudin Apte, principal analyst at Forrester Research.
The stage is set and the year 2010 clearly will see some serious M&A action in the Indian IT space.