Tata feud with Mistry deepens with plan to change holding firm

[MUMBAI] Tata Group's feud with one of India's richest families deepened after the country's biggest conglomerate moved to change its holding company's legal status to one that would restrict the Mistry family's ability to sell its stake to external investors.

Shareholders of the closely held company, Tata Sons, are scheduled to vote Sept 21 on changing its legal status to a private limited entity rather than a public one, Pradipta Bagchi, a spokesman for the group, said by telephone Friday. The Mistry family said it will vote against the proposal.

Last year, patriarch Ratan Tata ousted Cyrus Mistry as chairman of Tata Group, sparking India's biggest corporate showdown in years.

The Mistry family owns more than 18 per cent of the holding company that controls the cars-to-software conglomerate.

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