Cyrus Mistry Removed As TCS Chairman, Ratan Tata Aide Ishaat Hussain Steps In
Ishaat Hussain is a member of the board of Tata Sons He will be the interim chairman of TCS Cyrus Mistry was last month ousted as the chairman of Tata Sons
The Tatas have made their next move against Cyrus Mistry, removing him as chairman of group company Tata Consultancy Services or TCS. They have also sought a special meeting of the board of another group company, Indian Hotels, to remove Mr Mistry as its director.
TCS, India's biggest software services exporter, said it had received a letter from majority owner Tata Sons nominating Ishaat Hussain as interim chairman of the company in place of Mr Mistry.
"Mistry has ceased to be the chairman of the board of directors of the company, and Hussain is the new Chairman of the company. The company has been further informed that Hussain shall hold office as chairman of the company until a new chairman is appointed," TCS said in a filing with the exchanges.
Tata Sons has also called for an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders to consider a resolution for removal of Mr Mistry as a director on the TCS board.
Indian Hotels said in a statement that it had received a request from Tata Sons, which holds 28.01 per cent of the company, "to convene an Extra-Ordinary General meeting of the Shareholders of the Company, in the manner prescribed under applicable law, to pass the resolution for removal of Mr. C. P. Mistry as Director of the Company."
Tata Sons is the holding company of the $100 billion conglomerate. Last month, Cyrus Mistry, 48, was ousted as chairman of Tata Sons in a surprise move, and was replaced by Ratan Tata as interim chair.
But Mr Mistry continues to serve as chairman of several group companies, and moves to unseat him at these was anticipated given the bitter war of words that has erupted between the two sides following Mr Mistry's ouster.
With Tata Sons controlling an over 70 per cent stake in the group's crown jewel TCS, lawyers had noted that removing Mr Mistry as chair of the software and services company would be a much easier task than removing his as chair of the other ventures.
At a board meeting last week, independent directors of Indian Hotels had "unanimously expressed full confidence" in Mr Mistry's leadership.
He is also chairman of Tata Motors and Tata Steel.
Mr Mistry's ouster last month has triggered a public spat between him and Tata Sons, which has also pushed some of his closest aides out of the group. His family controls an 18.41 per cent stake in Tata Sons.
Ishaat Hussain, who is close to Ratan Tata, is a director of several Tata companies, including Tata Steel and air conditioning and engineering arm Voltas Ltd , and currently serves as chairman of Voltas and satellite television provider Tata Sky.