Shareholders of Tata Sons, the holding company of Tata conglomerate, today decided to remove Cyrus Mistry from the board of the company, thus ousting the former chairman from the last official position he held in the Tata group. Tata Sons had convened a shareholders' meet to decide on Mr Mistry's ouster from the board.
"The shareholders of Tata Sons Limited, at the extraordinary general meeting held today, passed, with the requisite majority, a resolution to remove Mr. Cyrus P. Mistry as a Director of Tata Sons Limited," Tata Sons said in a brief statement.
The $100-billion conglomerate had ousted Mr Mistry as chairman in October, sparking a bitter public spat between the two sides. But Mr Mistry held his place on the board of Tata Sons even as some Tata group companies removed him from board-level positions. Mr Mistry later resigned from the boards of all Tata companies but vowed to keep up a fight to improve governance norms in the nearly 150-year-old conglomerate.
Tata Sons proceeded with the shareholders' meeting today after two investment firms backed by the Mistry family failed to get a relief from the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT). The two investment firms had contended before the quasi-judicial body that the move to remove Mr Mistry is an "act of oppression against the minority shareholders". Mr Mistry's family holds an 18 per cent stake in Tata Sons while Tata Trusts, headed by Ratan Tata, has 66 per cent.
The Tata conglomerate had last month named TCS veteran Natarajan Chandrasekaran as the new chairman of its holding company. Mr Chandrasekaran, 53, will take over as executive chairman of Tata Sons on February 21.
The months-long boardroom battle seems to have taken a toll on the Tata brand. According to Brand Finance's 2017 report, the Tata group has slipped out of the top 100 global brands list, from last year's 82nd position.
Essential Business Intelligence, Continuous LIVE TV, Sharp Market Insights, Practical Personal Finance Advice and Latest Stories — On NDTV Profit.
