Tata Sons was aware about the Welspun deal: Mistry

Former chairman of Tata Group, Cyrus Mitry said Tata Sons board including Ratan Tata and nominee directors of the Tata trust was aware about the acquisition of Welspun Renewable Energy.

Mistry in a statement issued late Friday said “It is surprising that Mr Tata has sought to justify Monday’s conduct by making vague public statements that are contrary to his knowledge and contrary to the records of the Tata Group.” He further added “Tata sources said that the trustees of Tata Trusts were not kept informed about the transaction. The facts are as follows: In the early part of this year, Tata Power made a presentation to Tata Sons that a significant focus area would be the renewables sector.”

Vijay Singh was the only board member to reply and express positive appreciation. “With no other view having been expressed, Tata Power executed the agreement on June 12, 2016,” said Mistry

A series of discussions took place in the presence of Ratan Tata, in his capacity as chairman emeritus and trustee NA Soonawala, trustee of some Tata Trusts. “These included much more detailed interaction with the merchant bankers to the transaction. Soonawala had strong views on how this listed operating company must structure its transaction and proceeded to have further meetings with the merchant banker,” the statement said.

As the funding for transaction requires shareholder nodl, the transaction was discussed again at the Tata Sons board. “On June 30, 2016, Anil Sardana, CEO of Tata Power made a detailed presentation to the Tata Sons board. The discussion covered all aspects of the transaction including the structure and the Tata Sons board unanimously approved the transaction,” it said.

The minutes record that Nitin Nohria and Vijay Singh “after discussing the proposal with Tata and Soonawala”, while reiterating their view that the proposal should have come to the trustees earlier, approved the transaction, said Mistry in the statement.