  (Abridged) We study the phase-space distribution of satellite galaxies
associated with late-type galaxies in the GIMIC suite of simulations. GIMIC
consists of re-simulations of 5 cosmologically representative regions from the
Millennium simulation, which have higher resolution and incorporate baryonic
physics. Whilst the disc of the galaxy is well aligned with the inner regions
(r ~ 0.1r_200) of the dark matter halo, both in shape and angular momentum,
there can be substantial misalignments at larger radii (r ~ r_200).
Misalignments of > 45 deg are seen in ~ 30% of our sample. We find that the
satellite population aligns with the shape (and angular momentum) of the outer
dark matter halo. However, the alignment with the galaxy is weak owing to the
mismatch between the disc and dark matter halo. Roughly 20% of the satellite
systems with ten bright galaxies within r_200 exhibit a polar spatial alignment
with respect to the galaxy --- an orientation reminiscent of the classical
satellites of the Milky Way. We find that a small fraction (~10%) of satellite
systems show evidence for rotational support which we attribute to group
infall. There is a bias towards satellites on prograde orbits relative to the
spin of the dark matter halo (and to a lesser extent with the angular momentum
of the disc). This preference towards co-rotation is stronger in the inner
regions of the halo where the most massive satellites accreted at relatively
early times are located. We attribute the anisotropic spatial distribution and
angular momentum bias of the satellites at z=0 to their directional accretion
along the major axes of the dark matter halo. The satellite galaxies have been
accreted relatively recently compared to the dark matter mass and have
experienced less phase-mixing and relaxation --- the memory of their accretion
history can remain intact to z=0.
