Tata Trusts to Exit Listed Group CompaniesMumbai: Tata Trusts, a group of charitable entities that owns twothirds of Tata Sons, will exit from the listed group companies, from Tata Steel to Tata Motors , by selling their minority stake in them to the holding company, said two people with direct knowledge of the plans.The exercise, apart from restructuring the investment portfolio, will allow the trusts to raise funds to help build cancer hospitals and invest in research firms to develop nutritious foods for poorer people. Based on the closing prices on Wednesday, the stake sale could fetch the trusts about Rs 400 crore.A Tata Trusts spokesperson declined to comment on the matter. “The exercise is both tax-saving and good corporate governance.”The trusts, whose wealth accrues primarily from dividends from the holding company, invest about twothirds of their funds in philanthropic activities including supporting institutions and individuals in areas such as education, medical and poverty alleviation.Big Tata Group companies such as Tata Consultancy Services have already channelled a significant part of their mandatory charity spend to the trusts, in line with efforts by Tata Trusts chairman Ratan Tata to streamline social spending into one powerful programme. The government requires companies to spend at least 2% of their average net profit of the three preceding financial years on CSR activities.“It’s again coming back to that One Tata philosophy,” Tata Sons chairman N Chandrasekaran toldin an earlier interview. The idea is to bring together the knowledge, capabilities and resources to take on big projects and create a bigger impact.

Source: Economic Times March 30, 2018 02:48 UTC