Cyrus Mistry reveals Ratan Tata was open to selling TCS, denies being a hands-off chairman

In a statement, Cyrus Mistry denied that he was a hands-off chairman with respect to Tata Consultancy Service and Jaguar Land Rover and that he instead helped improve the cash conversion cycle at the IT company, enabling it to declare a special dividend.


"It is important to set the record straight since insinuations and leaks are being made explicitly to create an illusion that Mistry was a "hands off" Chairman and TCS/JLR were on "auto-pilot" during his leadership,” a statement from the office of Cyrus Mistry said.

The statement said that he had met at least 60 global CEOs, some along with TCS leadership, to reinforce and highlight TCS’s capabilities. It added that Mistry had also attended TCS customer summits in the US and Europe and had been scheduled to attend its summit in Japan in November.

The statement from Mistry’s office also said that Ratan Tata had also once approached JRD Tata with a proposal from IBM to buyout TCS.

The letter stated that at the time, FC Kohli, the then head of TCS was suffering from a cardiac condition and that JRD had refused to discuss the deal while Kohli was still in the hospital.

“On his return, Mr. Kohli assured JRD that TCS had a bright future and the group should not sell the company. JRD Tata turned down the offer, demonstrating true vision. But, it was also a neardeath experience for TCS at the hands of Mr. Ratan Tata,” the statement said.

The Tata Group and Cyrus Mistry have each been issuing a slew of letters and there been a series of dueling leaks from their camps, since Mistry was ignominiously removed as Group Chairman in October.