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Tata Sons shareholders have approved the re-appointment of N Chandrasekaran as chairman for another five-year term, news agency PTI reported on Tuesday. The company's single largest shareholder Shapoorji Pallonji family abstained from voting.
In February, the Board of Tata Sons reviewed the last five years and considered the reappointment of its Executive Chairman N Chandrasekaran. The appointment was subject to shareholders approval.
His reappointment was backed by Ratan Tata, chairman of Tata Trusts, the majority owners of Tata Sons.
At the shareholders meeting held today, the proposal for Chandrasekaran's reappointment for a second term needed more than 50% of votes as it was an ordinary resolution.
The Tatas voted in favour of the proposal. With 66% of Tata Sons' equity share capital held by philanthropic trusts -- Tata Trusts, the motion passed through, sources said.
However, they said, the Shapoorji Pallonji (SP) family of former chairman Cyrus Mistry, which holds 18.4% stake in Tata Sons, abstained from voting on the resolution of reappointment of Chandrasekaran and that of appointment of Leo Puri, JP Morgan India chairman, as an independent director on the board of Tata Sons.
Mistry's family voted against the proposal for appointment of Vijay Singh as a non-executive director of Tata Sons, with sources stating that it was keeping with the family's view that in the ongoing legal tussle against Tata Sons he had only taken "instructions from the majority shareholders" and not fulfilled his "fiduciary duty to the company".
Chandra, as he is usually referred to, took over the reins of Tata Sons in 2017 at a time when the group faced a leadership crisis and a trust deficit after the ouster of his predecessor, Cyrus Mistry, by the board. Until then, Chandra, a trusted lieutenant of the Tatas, had helmed TCS, the crown jewel and cash cow of the group.
A large part of Chandra's tenure was spent fighting the legal battle with Mistry.
He joined the Tata Sons board in October 2016, was designated chairman in January 2017 and took official charge in February 2017. He also chairs the boards of operating companies such as Tata Steel, Tata Motors, Tata Power and TCS.
The group is also reinventing its aviation businesses after successfully acquiring Air India Ltd from the central government last year.
Under Chandra, Tatas sold the mobile phone business of Tata Teleservices to Bharti Airtel in an attempt to cut losses. In May 2018, the group made one of the biggest acquisitions to date when Tata Steel took over Bhushan Steel by paying ₹35,200 crore under the insolvency process.
(With inputs from PTI)