Now part of Tech Mahindra, can the firm ever restore its credibility?
Chief development officer Atun Kunwar sits down with Arabian Business to talk reputations, rebranding and revenue. India’s it industry heaved a collective sigh of relief when Tech Mahindra snapped up the scandal-tainted Satyam Computer Services in April this year. The sale, conducted by auction and rushed through by the Indian government, gave the firm a 31 percent stake and the job of sweeping the country’s largest corporate fraud under the carpet. It was, industry insiders told each other, the close of a bad chapter, one that had sent shockwaves through India’s $70bn-a-year outsourcing market. For Tech Mahindra, a firm that has had its eye on Satyam for months, it was a chance to buy the backroom giant at the fire-sale price of $353m. Scandal or no scandal, says Atul Kunwar, chief business development officer of the newly-named Mahindra Satyam, his firm knew a deal when it saw one. “Satyam happened by accident, but we were one of the first off the block to establish contact when the
