Satyam Computers renamed Mahindra Satyam

[B. Karthick]

HYDERABAD: Tech Mahindra, the new owner of Satyam Computer Services,
has re-christened the scandal-hit firm ‘Mahindra Satyam’, giving it a
new brand identity.

The re-branding exercise reflects an amalgamation of the Mahindra
Group’s values with Satyam’s expertise, retaining a part of Satyam’s
identity that signifies commitment, purpose and proficiency of the
organisation and its people, according to Anand Mahindra, vice-
chairman & managing director, Mahindra Group.

ET NOW had first reported on June 19 about a hybrid name being
considered for Satyam Computer Services.

The brand of the country’s fourth -largest software exporter took a
beating, after its defamed founder B Ramalinga Raju floundered on
corporate governance norms by fudging the books and perpetrating the
country’s largest-ever corporate fraud. The new identity ‘Mahindra
Satyam’, could help erase Satyam’s tainted image, feels the top
management of the Mahindra group.

“This is a significant milestone towards the recovery of the company.
We are optimistic that this new brand will re-energise the
organisation and will be well-received by all our stakeholders. With
this synergistic approach, Mahindra Satyam will learn from the best
management practices of the Mahindra Group while focusing on nurturing
Satyam’s innate skills and capabilities,” said Vineet Nayyar,
executive vice-chairman, Satyam board.

The logo of the new brand will be adopted from the Mahindra group.
However, for all legal purposes, the beleaguered IT firm will continue
to be known as Satyam Computer Services, said a senior Satyam
official.

The new brand name was revealed at a closed-door leadership meeting at
the Satyam headquarters in Hyderabad. It will convey the synergies of
Satyam, well-known for its expertise in areas such as enterprise
resource planning, and Tech Mahindra’s strength in telecom.

The top brass of both companies also formulated a go-to-market
strategy on bidding for projects.

While Satyam and Tech Mahindra may bid independently for some
projects, only one of them would bid in projects that require domain
expertise. Satyam is perceived to be strong in the SAP and enterprise
resource planning (ERP) areas, while its parent has a strong hold in
the telecom, operational support systems (OSS) and business support
systems (BSS) services.

Satyam has 42,000 employees on its rolls, but 10,000 of them have been
placed on the virtual pool to trim personnel costs. Pune-based IT
services firm Tech Mahindra, holds a 31% stake in Satyam.

Satyam reported a net profit of Rs 181 crore for the quarter ended
December 31, 2008. The company’s scrip fell by 1.77% to close at Rs
77.70 on BSE on Friday.