Satyam to mull on buyout offers, decision soon

Agrees James Friedman, a senior analyst with Susquehanna Financial Group. "You don't have the opportunity to acquire a tier-one vendor in any industry very often. These circumstances are results of unusual developments," Friedman said.

According to Avinash Vashistha, CEO of advisory firm Tholons, despite recent developments, Satyam is a good buy as the India outsourcing story is intact. "There is enough record of Satyam being out there with a good client list. Both Indian and non-Indian services companies could look at it," he said.

According to Jefferies & Co equity research analyst Sachin Jain, technology firms with little or no direct presence in India would be the front-runners to pick up a stake in Satyam to boost their ability to deliver projects from cheaper locations.

"Clearly, in a slowing economy clients would be looking for more cost effective solutions. So for that reason, they would be interested," he said.

According to Daljeet Kohli, research head at Emkay Global, "The business prospects of the company remain good" and hence Satyam is a good buy.

However, most analysts say that any merger or takeover move is unlikely to happen in the next 1-2 months, as most suitors would like to wait until the extent of the fraud is detected and measures to streamline operations are taken. Satyam has appointed audit firms KPMG and Deloitte to restate the accounts and report on its true financial health. The exercise is expected to take at least 5-7 weeks.