The Mistry family, the single largest shareholder in Tata Sons with an 18.4 per cent stake, has no intention to sell it and had never approached investors nor sovereign funds with stake sale proposals, sources close to the family said.
“The family has been holding the stake for more than 50 years now, and this 10-month-period of turmoil is not an indication to sell it. The family is of the opinion that this is a passing phase, and has decided to hold on to the entire stake,” a source close to the Mistry family told BusinessLine .
Refuting earlier media reports of the family’s plans to sell off stake as “speculation”, the source added that at no point during the tussle did the family contemplate selling its stake. The sources declined to be identified.
The turmoil the source was referring to was the ouster of Cyrus Mistry as Chairman of Tata Sons in October last year, followed by legal suits in Mumbai and Delhi. At present, the issue is before the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) in New Delhi.
When contacted Cyrus Mistry’s office declined to comment. The Mistry family holds the stake in Tata Sons, the holding company of all Tata Group firms, through two family firms, Cyrus Investments and Sterling Investments. The family had first bought Tata Sons’ shares in the 1930s, which now stands at 18.4 per cent, and had a board seat in the holding company.
The family lost the board seat on February 6, 2017, when Cyrus Mistry was removed as director of Tata Sons.
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