Key Points
- Investor concerns grow over Tata Sons listing and leadership after dispute with Tata Trusts
- Tata Consultancy Services shares fall 3.88 per cent
- Tata Chemicals drops 11.04 per cent while Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles falls 3.4 per cent
MUMBAI: Shares of several Tata Group companies fell sharply on Friday, wiping about $4 billion from the combined market value of the Indian conglomerate’s listed businesses.
Investors reacted to growing uncertainty over the leadership and possible listing of its holding company, Tata Sons.
Exchange data showed that 383.61 billion Indian rupees, equivalent to roughly $4 billion, was erased from the combined market value of listed Tata Group companies during Friday’s trading. Their combined value stood at about $268.5 billion at Thursday’s close.
Shares of flagship Tata Consultancy Services fell 3.88 per cent, while Tata Chemicals plunged 11.04 per cent. Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles fell 3.4 per cent, and Tata Elxsi fell 3.4 per cent.
Tata Investment Corporation fell 2.55 per cent, and Tata Steel declined 0.93 per cent.
Some Tata companies moved against the broader decline. Tata Capital gained 2.42 per cent, Tata Power rose 1.57 per cent, and Tata Motors increased 1.56 per cent.
The selloff followed a decision by Tata Sons on Thursday to reappoint N. Chandrasekaran as chairman for another five-year term and proceed towards compliance with Reserve Bank of India rules that could require the holding company to list its shares.
Tata Trusts, which owns about 66 per cent of Tata Sons, has opposed the listing and challenged Chandrasekaran’s reappointment, describing it as illegal under Tata Sons’ governing documents.
The dispute has raised questions over governance, succession and the future structure of the 158-year-old conglomerate.
Indian investors are also assessing how a potential stock-market listing of Tata Sons could affect the ownership and capital structure of the wider group.
Mayank Jain, a market analyst at ‘Share.Market’ by PhonePe, said governance concerns were affecting sentiment towards Tata Group shares, although the individual companies remained subject to their own industry-specific business conditions.
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Independent market analyst Ambareesh Baliga said Chandrasekaran’s reappointment further highlighted divisions within the group’s leadership.
The developments have also focused attention on the Tata Sons stake held by the Shapoorji Pallonji Group, its second-largest shareholder with an 18.4 per cent holding.
Tata Trusts said the Shapoorji Pallonji Group had proposed monetising part of its stake through a two-stage buyout that could generate at least $2.61 billion over 18 months.
The dispute comes at a sensitive point for Tata Sons, whose potential listing could rank among India’s largest initial public offerings and reshape the relationship between the holding company, its shareholders and its listed operating businesses.
