MUMBAI:
Former Tata Sons chairman Cyrus Mistry on Tuesday filed four caveats against Tata Sons, Ratan Tata and Sir Dorabji Tata Trust.
The caveats were filed in the National Company Law Tribunal. This comes a day after a board annou
Ratan Tata, told mediapersons that that his appointment was for a short-term and the process to succeed him would soon begin. “Assumed role of interim chairman for stability and continuity so that there is no vacuum,” Tata said.
The board of Tata Sons Ltd on Monday replaced Cyrus P. Mistry as chairman, less than four years after he took the helm, and named his predecessor Ratan Tata interim chairman for four months. The board of the group holding company did not specify a reason for the abrupt move, which was announced after markets closed.
“Tata Sons in its collective wisdom and on the recommendations of the principal shareholders decided that it may be appropriate to consider a change for the long-term interest of Tata Sons and Tata group,” a spokesperson said.
A selection committee comprising Ratan Tata, Venu Srinivasan, Amit Chandra, Ronen Sen and Kumar Bhattacharyya was given the mandate of finding a replacement for Mistry, 48, who became chairman of the $103 billion conglomerate in December 2012, at the end of Tata’s over two-decade tenure at the top. The board was given four months to complete the task. “In the interim, the board has requested me to perform the role of chairman and I have agreed to do so in the interest of and reassurance to the Tata group,” Ratan Tata, 78, said in a statement addressed to “colleagues”.
The development, which portends at least s
hort-term turmoil, comes at a time when the conglomerate, whose business interests range from tea to telecom and salt to software services, has been trying to recast or dispose of the key UK steel business, which it acquired in a $12.9 billion purchase of Corus Group Plc. in 2007 under Ratan Tata.
Among the six chairmen Tata Sons has had so far in its history, Mistry’s is the shortest tenure at just short of four years.
Since taking over, Mistry has repeatedly talked about continuing to seize business opportunities, especially in emerging technologies. Under his watch, the group embarked on a $28 billion capital investment programme, which included diversification into newer areas such as defence.
His tenure coincided with headwinds to growth, global political and economic uncertainty and volatility in commodity demand and prices, which meant he was fighting too many fires at the operating company level.
