Tata Sons Passes Resolution To Take Company Private In Setback To Mistry
Shareholders agree to take Tata Sons private.
Shareholders of Tata Sons Ltd. passed a resolution allowing the parent of the salt-to-software group to change its legal status from a public to a privately held company, according to people familiar with the development.
All the resolutions placed before shareholders at its annual general meeting on Thursday were passed with requisite majority, those in the know told BloombergQuint on the condition of anonymity. The nod comes on a day the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal granted ousted Chairman Cyrus Mistry a waiver from the minimum shareholding requirement to bring charges of mismanagement and oppression against Tata Sons.
Last week, the holding company of the $103-billion Tata Group had made the proposal, which would restrict stakeholders, including Mistry, from selling their shares to external investors.
The proposal was opposed by Mistry, whose family owns nearly 18.4 percent stake. Mistry was ousted last October after a boardroom coup led by Ratan Tata, which triggered a legal battle that’s still on.
One of the Mistry family-run firms had written to directors of six listed Tata companies, urging them to vote against the proposal as it would lead to bigger challenges in disinvesting their stake.
A total of 16 resolutions were passed at the AGM, of which six were special resolutions, people familiar with the matter said. Shareholders also approved the appointment of N Chandrasekaran as the group executive chairman, and as a director on the board. The appointments of Ralf Speth of Jaguar Land Rover and Amit Chandra of Bain Capital on the board of directors are received shareholders’ nod, the people added.