With the September 30 deadline fast approaching for listing of upper layer non-banks including Tata Sons, the holding company of the Tata group entities, highly placed sources say the Reserve Bank of India is ready to grant the dispensation sought by Tata group to retain Tata Sons as an unlisted private limited company.
“Tata Sons has complied with all the stipulations put forth by the RBI to hold Tata Sons as an unlisted company, including squaring off debt and surrendering the NBFC license,” said a source with knowledge of the development.
However, the regulator may also have asked the two major shareholders of Tata Sons, to take a unified decision in the matter of listing the entity. A formal communication from the regulator is expected after the company’s shareholders communicate their final decision to the RBI on whether they would like to retain Tata Sons as an unlisted entity.
Tata Trust (largely comprising of Sir Ratan Tata Trust and Sir Dorabji Tata Trust) and Shapoorji Pallonji group (SP Group, comprising of Sterling Investments and Cyrus Investments) are the two major shareholders of Tata Sons, holding 65.9 percent and 18.4 percent stake, respectively. A few Tata group companies and certain members of the Tata family hold the remaining shares of Tata Sons.
It is understood that the SP Group, owned by the Mistry family, is in favour of listing Tata Sons’ shares as this would help generate liquidity for their shareholding. The stake held by SP Group in Tata Sons is pledged with lenders.
