Was there a due diligence at all?

Refusing to confirm whether a due diligence report (DDR) was prepared and circulated to the board members well in advance of the
decision to acquire Maytas Infra and Maytas Properties by Satyam Computer Services, company director V S Raju said "sufficient information" was there for the board to give the nod for acquiring the two companies.

The DDR comprises a valuation of the companies that are proposed to be acquired, the legal risks and the long-term market profitability due to the acquisition. In normal practice, no acquisition takes place without the preparation of such a report.

When asked whether such a report was made available to them, Raju told TOI: "I cannot comment on that as it is confidential. But I can tell you that sufficient information was provided for us to okay the acquisition."

Raju is currently the chairman of the naval research board under the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and is also member on various committees and task forces concerned with technical education and research. Amidst the resignation of senior board member Mangalam Srinivasan and calls for Satyam chairman B Ramalinga Raju and other members to quit, Raju defended the acquisition move and said there was nothing ethically or morally wrong in going for unrelated diversification.

"There was nothing wrong with the decision (to acquire Maytas). The reaction was unfortunate. Perhaps there was little time for us to communicate to the shareholders the acquisition move. Otherwise, the move was sound," Raju said.

Referring to the World Bank barring Satyam from bidding for direct contracts with the bank for the next eight years beginning September 2008 on bribery and other charges, Raju said: "What I was given to understand in an earlier board meeting was that the Bank does not do business with a vendor for more than 10 years and we have completed that period with the bank. Hence, there was nothing unusual or irregular in the WB decision."