Cyrus Investments Pvt Ltd and Sterling Investment Corporation, part of the SP Group, own 18.4 per cent stake in Tata Sons. These shares have been pledged to the bank and a loan of around $300 crore (roughly Rs. 25,000 crore) has been taken. This was used for repayment of other debts of the SP Group and for the operations of the companies.
Earlier in 2016, the Tata family unsuccessfully fought a legal battle against the removal of Cyrus Mistry as chairman of Tata Sons. The court rulings were in favor of the Tata family. He then turned his attention to planning plans for the reorganization and growth of the SP Group along with his elder brother and SP Group Chairman Shapoor Mistry.
Meanwhile, in the last annual general meeting of Tata Sons, the SP group had demanded a higher dividend payout. The SP Group raised the issue by pointing out that the dividend from Tata Sons is only 2.5 per cent in FY22 compared to the industry standard of 25 per cent.
The dividend declared by Tata Sons for FY 2023 is 1,750 per cent (based on the face value of the share). It was 1,000 percent in the previous financial year. The amount received as dividend is 707.1 crores. A year ago, the amount earned as dividend was 404 crores. The SP group is currently focused on improving the performance of its own companies, sources said. However, market experts believe that the court verdict has ended most of the issues of disagreement between the two giant groups.
