Mistry removed as Tata Sons chairman
WHAT NEXT? Search on for successor, Ratan Tata to be interim chief
NEW DELHI: Tata Sons, the holding company of India’s largest business group, said on Monday it had decided to replace Cyrus Mistry as chairman, a shock announcement that stunned many.
Ratan Tata, the 78-year-old patriarch of the $103-billion salt-to-software conglomerate, will take over as interim chairman for four months while a company-appointed search panel finds Mistry’s replacement.
Mistry is the son of Pallonji, who controls nearly 18% of the equity in Tata Sons. That makes him the single largest individual shareholder in the group that operates in 150 countries.
“The board, in its wisdom and on the recommendation of the principal shareholders, decided that it will be in the long-term interest of the group to replace Cyrus Mistry,” a spokesperson for Tata Trusts told HT over the phone from Mumbai.
Tata Trusts, chaired by Ratan Tata, are the principal shareholders in Tata Sons. Two of them, Sir Dorabji Tata Trust and Sir Ratan Tata Trust, together hold 51.6%.
A terse statement issued by the Tata Sons board did not give reasons. Mistry, 48, has battled issues on a number of fronts in recent months, including a costly settlement with Japanese telecom operator NTT Docomo and the sale of Tata Steel’s lossmaking UK business.
Britain’s referendum vote in June to exit the European Union was a big setback for the steel sale, which the company has now put on hold.
But, in his favour, the combined market capitalisation (the sum of the market value of all equity shares) of the group’s listed companies nearly doubled during Mistry’s tenure.