"We have been surprised by the market reaction to this decision even though we were quite positive about the merits of the acquisition. However, in deference to the views expressed by many investors, we have decided to call off these acquisitions,” said Ramalinga Raju, Satyam's chairman and founder, in a Dec. 17 .

DSP Merrill Lynch, an Indian joint venture between Merrill Lynch and DSP Financial Consultants, has worked on big outsourcing acquisition deals before. In October, the investment bank acted as an advisor to Tata Consultancy Services in its US$505 million buyout of Citigroup Global Services, the former business process outsourcing arm of Citigroup.