‘Mistryhimselfsought guidancefromRatanTata’
Contesting allegations of “mismanagement” at the group, Tatas on Friday said former chairman Cyrus Mistry himself had suggested pre-consultation with his predecessor Ratan Tata to seek on draft corporate governance code.
“Mistry sought guidance... after his removal, these acts were deemed as oppressive,” Tata Sons’ counsel Abhishek Manu Singhvi told the National Company Law Tribunal here, which is hearing petitions filed by two firms controlled by the Mistry family against the Tata Group.
The petitions have alleged “mismanagement” in the Tata Group and “oppression” of minority share-holders.
Mistry had instructed Tata Group companies to share information (with Ratan Tata), the lawyer said.
A month before his dismissal as chairman, Mistry had circulated a draft corporate governance code, where he himself suggested a preconsultation process with Tata who was emeritus chairman, and also suggested taking the views of Tata Trusts, Singhvi said.
Mistry was now talking about corporate governance only to air his dismay at being removed, the Tata lawyer said.
“Issues which were proper and normal in the business course before October 2016 suddenly became weapons of interference and oppression,” Singhvi argued.
Further, some of the articles ofassociationofTataSons, questionedbythepetitioners, werein existenceunchallengedforover 140 years since the inception of the group, the lawyer said.
Cyrus Investments and Sterling Investments have moved the NCLT against Tata Sons following Mistry’s ouster as the group chairman on October 24, 2016, and as a director on February 6, 2017. Ganesh Natarajan-led consulting firm 5F World and New York-based boutique investment bank The Chesapeake Group announced a joint venture (JV) to provide growth advisory and digital transformation engagement between large firms in the two countries for startups focused on digital solutions.
They also launched a platform for emerging digital companies called Zoom12.
The JV called Kalzoom Advisors will be based out of offices in New York, Bengaluru and Pune. It will work in areas of digital solutions like Artificial intelligence (AI) Internet of Things (IoT), digital platforms, design thinking, cyber security, cloud computing etc. Zoom12 will enable emerging companies to connect with funding sources and potential clients across the two countries.
Founder and managing director of The Chesapeake Group Douglas Land said, “We are confident our growbuy-sell approach will be a true enabler to Indian and American new age companies. We have helped young companies grow and command superior value when they raise capital or get acquired by larger firms.”Chesapeake specialises in cross-border transactions, merger and acquisition advisory and recapitalisation.
Both 5F and Chesapeake will be leveraging a strong corporate client, venture capitalist and angel investor network to create value for clients, said the spokespersons. Ganesh Natarajan said that the advisory is already in the process of evaluating and signing up companies in specific digital spaces. “We have received delightful pre-launch response to the platform and have already signed up 60 companies. For two of these companies, Kalzoom is providing growth services that will enable them to grow 30 per cent per annum in defined digital spaces.”
The JV called Kalzoom Advisors will be based out of offices in New York, Bengaluru and Pune