India Business Journal - Rift between Tata Group and SP Group widens with the latter urging listing of Tata Sons

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Rift between Tata Group and SP Group widens with the latter urging listing of Tata Sons

IBJ Bureau
Oct 11, 2025

The Shapoorji Pallonji (SP) Group has called for a public listing of Tata Sons as a “moral and social imperative”. This may queer the pitch for a consensus between the Tata Group and the SP Group. Tata Sons is the holding company of the Tata Group’s 25 listed companies with a combined market capitalisation of Rs 26.5 lakh crore.

The Tatas have so far strongly resisted any move to list Tata Sons, with Tata Trusts Chairman Noel Tata reportedly telling Tata Sons Chairman N Chandrasekaran that the holding company should remain private. However, Mr Tata has reportedly asked Mr Chandrasekaran to work out a formula that gives an exit to the SP Group, which is the second-largest shareholder of Tata Sons with an 18.6 per cent stake.

In fact, Mr Chandrasekaran had met SP Group Chairman Shapoorji Mistry on the issue ahead of the holding company’s annual general meeting on August 14. This had led to rising hopes that the two sides would work out a peace formula in the form of a partial exit.

However, the SP Group, which has seen its debt piling up, is obviously in no mood to relent. The promoters of the group have been battling debt issues – Rs 30,000 crore at the last count – and demanding an exit through public listing of Tata Sons for quite some time.

Terming the recent rift in Tata Trusts as an “internal matter”, the SP Group has said that its long-standing position on listing of Tata Sons “has always been rooted in transparency, fairness, public interest and adherence to the principles of good corporate governance”.