Satyam management change after CLB approval -chairman

BANGALORE, April 12 (Reuters) - The change of management in fraud-hit Satyam Computer Services (SATY.BO: Quote, Profile, Research) is expected to take place by next weekend after the board gets the approval from the Company Law Board (CLB), Satyam's chairman said on Sunday.

Kiran Karnik said the government appointed board of Satyam will announce the highest bidder for the Indian outsourcing company on Monday and then will recommend the bidder to the CLB, a semi-judicial corporate regulatory body, for its approval.

"We can only recommend to the CLB and the final bidder will be announced by them," Karnik told Reuters in a phone interview.

He said the regulatory approval was likely to be received by next weekend, after which the management of Satyam will be handed over to the buyer.

Three months ago, Satyam's founder and former chairman, Ramalinga Raju, shocked investors by saying profits had been overstated for years, and putting in doubt the survival of the company once ranked as India's fourth largest outsourcing firm.

The government quickly stepped in and sacked the board as it sought to limit damage from India's biggest corporate scandal.

Indian engineering conglomerate Larsen & Toubro (LART.BO: Quote, Profile, Research), which has a small software services unit, mid-sized outsourcer Tech Mahindra (TEML.BO: Quote, Profile, Research) and U.S. private equity firm WL Ross & Co are among the suitors. [ID:nBOM203266]

For a FACTBOX on Satyam, see [[ID:nBOM417149]

For a TIMELINE on key events at Satyam, see [ID:nBOM435389] (Reporting by Sumeet Chatterjee; editing by Mike Nesbit)