L&T convened its board meeting to discuss its nuclear foray and chances of buying Satyam. The board member representing LIC, a major shareholder of L&T, also attended the meeting. However, an L&T spokesperson said Satyam was not on the agenda today.

“L&T is looking to submit a revival proposal for Satyam, highlighting the credibility of the brand ‘Larsen & Toubro’. Traditionally, L&T is an employee-friendly company and that will help retain the Satyam employees. The company's financial strength will also help Satyam raise funds for its working capital.”

L&T sees a lot of synergy between the core strengths of the beleaguered software giant with that of L&T Infotech, its unlisted information technology subsidiary. Satyam’s strength is in enterprise resource planning (ERP) solutions, which accounted for 45 per cent of revenues.

HCL Technologies has also reportedly shown interest in acquiring Satyam. Like vertical, Satyam's ERP expertise complements HCL's business. The other complementary vertical is engineering design. "It is difficult to talk about valuations as there needs to be a better clarity on the numbers.

HCL might try for a bargain," said an investment banker on condition of anonymity. He also said that the recent Axon integration should not pose a problem for HCL, as Satyam's operations are in India.