Tata Sons listing in public interest, have faith in govt, says SP Mistry

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The Shapoorji Pallonji (SP) Group, a substantial minority shareholder of Tata Sons, repeated its call for a public listing of the Tata Group holding company, as it sought to convince the regulators that such a move is essential to unlock value for investors.

“A timely listing of Tata Sons is not merely a regulatory compliance but a necessary evolution,” Shapoorji Pallonji Mistry, chairman of the SP Group, said in a statement Friday. The SP Group owns 18.4 per cent of Tata Sons.

The renewed push follows a similar appeal made in October when the group argued how a listing would benefit more than 120 million shareholders of listed Tata companies. “We repose full faith in the Government of India and the Reserve Bank of India to act decisively,” Mistry said.

The listing of Tata Sons is fundamentally in the public interest, Mistry argued, while adding that millions of retail shareholders would benefit.

He said it would open a more defined and robust dividend stream for the Tata Trusts, the group’s philanthropic arm.

“To date, no clear, evidence-based case has been presented to explain how a public listing would materially damage the interests of the trusts or reduce their ability to serve beneficiaries,” Mistry said in the statement.

In 2022, the RBI designated Tata Sons as an “upper-layer” non-banking financial institution — a category that requires firms to go public within three years of the classification.

While a public float has long been opposed by Tata Trusts, the majority holder of Tata Sons, due to concerns around dilution of its control over the group’s listed companies, Shapoorji’s latest demand is aimed at amping up pressure on the central bank to enforce a public listing.

Any delay in an initial public offering would effectively close a potential liquidity window for the debt-laden conglomerate, which has struggled with financial stress exacerbated by the pandemic. The group has previously tapped private credit markets by pledging part of the holding.

Its stake in Tata Sons, however, remains illiquid, making a resolution critical to its debt-reduction plans.