Acc Was Never A Tata Firm: Palkhivala

ACC chairman Nani Palkhivala has categorically stated that the cement major is a professionally managed company and its board does not regard itself as a Tata company or a Tata-controlled company.

Palkhivala says ACC has never been a part of the Tata group and that it is not correct for the company to contribute to the Tata brand promotion fund.

Palkhivalas statement adds a new dimension to the ongoing controversy over ACCs association with the Tata group. In a recent news release, ACC had claimed that there was no change in the association between the company and the Tata group.

 

In an interview with Business Standard, Palkhivala said ACC is being run as a professionally managed company. The board does not follow any policy just because the policy is laid down by the board of Tata Sons Limited, he said.

Palkhivala said he was asked to take over as ACC chairman as a professional manager and the expectation then was that it should be run as a professionally managed company. Even the investments of Tata companies were made by Darbari Seth in 1988 only after seeking Palkhivalas consent.

He, however, admitted that it would be in the interest of ACC to be part of the Tata group. He said this in response to a question that several senior ACC officials believed that it could enjoy the Tata groups strength by being a part of it. But making ACC a part of the Tata group would not be proper because that is not correct, he added.

On the same ground, Palkhivala said that there was no justification for ACC to pay any brand promotion fees to Tata Sons. He maintained that the ACC brand was a strong brand and it could hold its own in the market.

He maintained that the reported swapping of Tata shares in ACC with those held by Shapoorji Pallonji Mistry (deputy chairman of ACC) in Tata Sons was denied by Mistry.

He, however, remained non-committal on the question of whether he foresaw any change in the equity structure of ACC.

Palkhivala said ACC like any other company was vulnerable to a takeover threat and suggested that one way of preventing it was to increase the stake of those shareholders in whom the company had trust. He also said that the question of his resignation from ACC was now to be decided by the companys board.

The (ACC) board does not follow any policy just because it has been laid down by the Tata Sons board Nani Palkhivala