Dealmakers Form Core Of Team Chandrasekaran At Tata Sons
N. Chandrasekaran’s team includes three dealmakers, a corporate lawyer, and a former aide.
When N Chandrasekaran chaired his first board meeting at Tata Sons Ltd. in February, he outlined three priorities: bringing the group closer, improving capital allocation and boosting returns to shareholders.
Three months into the job, Tata’s marathon man has started building his core team to deliver on that promise. It includes three investment bankers, one of India’s most successful corporate lawyers, and a former associate of Chandrasekaran from his days at Tata Consultancy Services Ltd., the biggest company in the $103-billion group.
Chandrasekaran roped in investment bankers Ankur Verma from Bank of America-Merril Lynch and Nipun Aggarwal of Standard Chartered Bank in March. The two were appointed to the chairman's office. They were followed by the appointment of Suprakash Mukhopadhyay, the former global treasury head of TCS, who joined the chairman's office in April, a Tata Sons spokesperson confirmed.
This week, Tata Sons made two key managerial appointments. Saurabh Agarwal, the former strategy head of the $41-billion Aditya Birla Group and also the man behind the proposed Vodafone-Idea Cellular merger, was hired as the chief financial officer on May 22. The next day, Shuva Mandal, the lawyer who led Tata's charge against former chairman Cyrus Mistry, was brought into Bombay House as the group general counsel.
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Hiring “bankers with experience” makes sense for Tata Sons, which is a conglomerate with varied businesses ranging from salt to software, said Hemendra Kothari, chairman of DSP Blackrock, a veteran investment banker who managed the initial public offering of TCS, and has worked on more than a few merger and acquisition deals for it.
We can assume that he is creating a team of people with wide experience in various industries, who understand value, structures and growth.Hemendra Kothari, Chairman, DSP Blackrock
The Tata Sons chairman would have kept in mind factors like fund management, M&As, capital markets and capital allocation while making these hiring decisions, he added.
Chandrasekaran is hiring persons who have had some past equation with him, and whose judgment he trusts, Kothari explained.
Kothari, under whom Saurabh Agarwal had worked for 16 years, added that the Tata boss knew the man personally. He also called Mukhopadhyay a “capable” executive as he had managed the global treasury of TCS, the largest for the Tata Group. Mukhopadhyay’s experience in managing foreign currency matters will be key, he said.
It is, however, unclear what specific role the dealmakers will play in the chairman's office. To an emailed query by BloombergQuint, Tata Sons responded that “they have diversified responsibilities”, adding that they would not offer any further guidance.
Shuva Mandal, on the other hand, has earlier advised the group and its companies as an external lawyer. Last year, he advised Ratan Tata and the group on the ouster of then chairman Cyrus Mistry. He has since advised Tata Sons on the cases filed by Mistry in the National Company Law Tribunal.
“Having worked closely with the Tatas over the past several months, he recognises the responsibilities, the challenges and the opportunities,” said Akshay Chudasama, managing partner at Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co., the law firm where Mandal is a partner. Chudasama said Mandal would be a “great asset” for Tata Sons.
Kothari maintained that with the five appointments, Chandrasekaran has established a very strong chairman's office on the finance, legal and treasury fronts.