Britain's most seasoned and accomplished businessman Sir George Buckley, who is also the chairman of Smiths Group, has been approached to replace Cyrus Mistry, according to a report by British channel Sky News.
Buckley had emerged as a surprise candidate to lead Tata, the giant Indian conglomerate that is among the UK's largest inward investors, the channel reported quoting group insiders.
“Discussions with him are at an early stage and are also continuing with other candidates including Harish Manwani, the former chief operating officer of Unilever,” it said in a November 29 report.
Sir George's emergence as a potential contender to lead Tata, which owns Jaguar Land Rover and the Port Talbot steelworks, makes him the first non-Indian to be linked to the post, it added.
Sir George, who had a successful executive career at the helm of a number of large US corporations such as 3M, has a wide range of experience that encompasses steel, power and chemicals industries. Sir George is also on the boards of Hitachi, Stanley Black & Decker and PepsiCo, and his previous employers included Brunswick Corporation and Emerson Electric Company.
BusinessLine could not independently confirm authenticity of the report.
Earlier on November 4, the British channel reported that Hindustan Unilever non-executive Chairman Harish Manwani was a contender for the top job at Tata Sons.
Manwani (62), former COO of Unilever, is likely to succeed Mistry to become chairman of Tata Sons, the news channel had reported, quoting sources.
READ THE STORY: Harish Manwani seen as contender for top post at Tata Sons: report