Mindtree founders drop promoter tag as firm reclassifies them as 'public'

Founders had requested for the reclassification in July last year after L&T took over the Bengaluru-based firm

Founders of mid-tier IT services firm Mindtree have been reclassified as 'public' and have given up the 'promoter and promoter group' tag as the L&T group firm's board formally approved the recategorisation on Wednesday.

In July 2019, Mindtree founders Krishnakumar Natarajan, Rostow Ravanan, N S Parthasarathy and Subroto Bagchi had requested the Mindtree board to drop the promoter tag after L&T acquired a majority stake in the Bengaluru-based firm in a hostile bid.

The Mindtree board hadn't acted on the request then, as the combined shareholding of the founders and their family members was more than 10 per cent - the minimum threshold for being classified as promoter group.

"However, the board reviewed the application thoroughly and decided to consider it due to the fact that the individual holding of the above promoters (along with the persons related to them) wasn't exceeding 10 per cent of the shareholding of the company," Mindtree said in an exchange filing.

Apart from the founders and their relatives, a few other persons and entities - Kamran Ozair, Scott Staples and LSO Investment Private Ltd - have also been reclassified as public shareholders.

As per the exchange filing, while Natarajan and persons related to him held five per cent in the company as on March 6 this year, Ravanan holds around 0.67 per cent. Parthasarathy holds 1.43 per cent in Mindtree along with his relatives, while Bagchi and persons related to him hold a combined 4.77 per cent.

In July 2019, infrastructure major L&T had acquired over 60 per cent in Mindtree and had been categorised as the promoter of the IT firm.

Meanwhile, the IT services firm on Wednesday named Senthil Kumar its chief financial officer and appointed other key managerial personnel in the interim. The company had earlier appointed Dayapatra Nevatia chief operating officer (COO) on March 2.