India's Tata removes Mistry as beverage giant chairman

The board of directors resolved to replace Cyrus Mistry as Chairman of the company, says TGBL

NEW DELHI: Indian conglomerate Tata removed Cyrus Mistry as the chairman of the tea giant Tata Global Beverages Limited Tuesday, weeks after dumping him as group chief in a move that stunned the country's business world.

Mistry was unceremoniously sacked last month as chairman of Tata Sons, the holding company of India's most famous family conglomerate -- the $103 billion steel-to-salt Tata Group.

TGBL said in a statement to the Bombay Stock Exchange that Harish Bhat had replaced Mistry as the chairman, after seven out of 10 company directors voted for his removal during Tuesday's board meeting. "The board of directors resolved to replace Cyrus Mistry as Chairman of the company," TGBL  said.

TGBL is the maker of one of India's leading tea brands -- Tata Tea and British Tetley Tea and coffee brand -- Eight O'Clock. Last week, IT giant Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), removed Mistry as the chairman of India's biggest IT outsourcing firm as company patriarch Ratan Tata reasserts his authority over the sprawling conglomerate.



Mistry was sacked on October 24 with Tata unhappy at the direction he was taking the company in. The 78-year-old Tata, who led the group for more than two decades, has taken interim charge until a successor is found. The pair have traded barbs since Mistry's ouster, plunging the group into bitter infighting with directors firmly placed in either camp.

Removing Mistry from various boards is not going to be easy however as he is heir to the multi-billion-dollar construction giant the Shapoorji Pallonji Group, which is the largest single shareholder in Tata Sons, owning 18.4 per cent.

The Tata Group was founded under British colonial rule in 1868. It operates in more than 100 countries and owns high-profile companies such as Anglo-Dutch steel firm Corus and Britain's Jaguar Land Rover.