Lazard, Swiss Fin Corp log out of Satyam

CHENNAI: On a day the Indian government rejected the possibility of a cash bail out for troubled tech major Satyam, UK-based Lazard Asset Management offloaded its entire 5.3% in the company in open market transactions, barely a week after buying fresh shares in the company.

In two separate open market transactions carried out on BSE and NSE, Lazard Asset Management sold off a total 3.6 crore shares at around Rs 21.7 a piece, data from the stock exchanges show. At that price, Lazard sold its stake at around Rs 78 crore. Facing excessive supply of shares at its counter, the Satyam stock crashed 32.2% to close at Rs 20.30 on BSE. Satyam shares have lost 91% of their value in the last one month, valuing the company at Rs 1,370 crore, data shows.

Like Lazard, Swiss Finance Corporation sold 1.1 crore shares on Thursday at Rs 21.60 apeice. After the government-approved new board had taken over Satyam, Swiss

Finance Corp had bought 60 lakh Satyam shares on January 9 (Friday) at a price of Rs 22.78 a share, after the street saw hopes of Satyam braving the storm.