 "Ousted Tata Sons Chairman, Cyrus Mistry, arrives for Tata Steel's board meeting at Bombay House")
A day after being voted out as TCS' director, Cyrus P Mistry today took the moral high ground, saying over 70% of non-promoter shareholders either voted against the resolution to remove him or abstained.
He said the voting by minority shareholders of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has sent a strong signal that the need for governance reform at Tata group must not go unheeded.
Mistry also vowed that he would continue to work at various forums to be voice for change in the Tata group, its governance and protection of stakeholders' rights.
In a letter of thanks to the public shareholders of TCS, Mistry said: "I wish to remind all that polls at shareholder meetings are not a reflection for clamour for office or retribution for the breakdown in the rule of law in the Tata Group in recent weeks."
Stating that the outcome of TCS EGM was a foregone conclusion, he said: "Over 70% of non-promoter TCS shareholders either voted against the resolution to remove me or abstained. This meant nearly 20% of the total votes in TCS (the promoters hold 73% of the total vote)." He further said: "A reported 78% of the votes cast by retail investors was against the resolution to remove me and nearly 43% of the votes cast by institutional investors were against the resolution to remove me." The voting in TCS is therefore, a strong signal from minority shareholders that the need for governance reform must not go unheeded, he added.
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According regulatory filing of the extraordinary general meeting (EGM) held yesterday, 86.71% of the 197.04 crore shares voted. Of the votes polled, 93.11% voted for his removal and 6.89% were against the resolution brought by the promoter, Tata Sons Ltd.
Out of the 8.78 crore retail shareholders, 1.55 crore voted on the resolution, 78%, or 1.21 crore of which voting against the resolution. But this vote against the resolution may have included Mistry's own votes as well.
According to the latest annual report of TCS, Mistry held 41.63 lakh shares or 0.21% shares of the company as on March 31, 2016. Considering he would have voted against the resolution brought by Tata Sons, less than half of the negative votes for the resolution may be his own.
His shareholding made up for 35% of the negative vote for the resolution. Interestingly, less than 18% of the 8.78 crore retail shareholders voted.
According to the regulatory filing, all of the 144.48 crore promoter-held shares, constituting 73.32% of the total shareholding, voted for the resolution to remove him.
Of the 43.79 crore institutional holding, 56.69% participated in the poll, with 14.25 crore favouring Mistry's removal and 10.55 crore being against the resolution.
Mistry said his pleas to TCS shareholders was to vote "to save the soul of the Tata Group".
Making clear his intent to continue his fight against Ratan Tata and Tata Sons, Mistry said: "I will continue to strive and work at various forums to be voice for change in the Tata Group, its governance and protection of stakeholders’ rights."
He further said: "The outcome at TCS has only made my resolve to save the heritage of the Tata Group stronger, and I will continue to work on the crying need for governance reform."
Mistry was on October 24 abruptly removed as Chairman of Tata Sons but he continues to head several operating companies of the Group. His predecessor Ratan Tata, who replaced Mistry as the interim chairman, is trying to tighten his grip by seeking to removal Mistry from boards of the operating companies as well.
