Tata Communications was another bidder
for the 125,000 route kilometre fibre optic business and a board meeting
had been called this week to take a call on the final bid, said another
source
The Tata group is
likely to witness yet another high-profile exit, as Mukund Rajan, head
of international operations of Tata Sons, may leave by the month-end,
according to sources in the know. A Tata group spokesperson
said it was “speculation”, when asked about Rajan’s possible exit from
the group. Insiders said a plan by private equity firm TPG Capital to
bid for Tata Teleservices’ fibre business for $1 billion along with
Rajan as a partner was also “off the table”. Tata Communications was
another bidder for the 125,000 route kilometre fibre optic business and
a board meeting had been called this week to take a call on the final
bid, said another source. “The Indian government, which owns a 26 per
cent stake in Tata Communications, is not inclined to take on more debt
to take over the project,” said the source requesting anonymity.
Some of the Tata Communications’ board members are also against the
takeover and are likely to protest at the board meet, according to the
source.
When contacted, Rajan said he was not quitting the group and would lead
the TPG Capital initiative, if it bagged the fibre optic business.
Otherwise, he would continue with the Tata group. Rajan was earlier chief brand custodian and a member of group executive council set up by former Tata Sons chairman Cyrus Mistry in 2013.
Soon after the Tata Sons board
removed Mistry as its Chairman in October 2016, the council was
disbanded and three members of the Council were asked to leave the group
on the same day.
But Rajan and another group veteran Harish Bhat were retained by the
Tatas to lead other initiatives. Rajan was later re-designated as head
of international operations in Tata Sons by the new chairman, N Chandrasekaran, in 2017. Rajan joined the Tata group in the 1990s and worked in the office of the former Chairman Ratan Tata for many years.
Reference - http://www.business-standard.com/article/companies/another-high-profile-exit-mukund-rajan-may-leave-tata-sons-by-month-end-118031500041_1.html
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