Tata Trusts resolute on SP share transfer

Stand on SP’s Tata Sons shares scotches speculation on harmony

- Varun Sood & Satish John

The friction continues between Shapoorji Pallonji Group, the largest public shareholder of Tata Sons, and the philanthropic entities that control the Tata empire. This, despite a change of guard at the Tata Trusts with Noel Tata taking over as chairman this October.

The chief executive of Tata Trusts told Mint in an email response to a questionnaire sent on Tuesday that Tata Sons’ shares cannot be used as collateral for fresh loans by the SP Group.

According to an executive privy to the development, Shapoorji Pallonji Group plans to use the 18.4% shares it owns in Tata Sons, the holding company of the Tata Group, as collateral to replace its current loans totaling ₹22,000 crore ($2.6 billion) that are payable by March 2025. To be sure, the shares are already pledged against these loans, and the aim is to transfer the shares to a new set of investors to raise money to repay the earlier loan.

“We do not endorse Tata Sons shares being used as collateral,” Siddarth Sharma, chief executive of Tata Trusts, told Mint in the email.