Tata Sons exec’s kin own firm once listed as group company-OxBig News Network

Divinion Advisory Services Pvt. Ltd was founded in 2022 by the daughter of Suprakash Mukhopadhyay, Tata Sons’ group company secretary and a close aide to chairman Natarajan Chandrasekaran. In 2022, Tata Pension Management Ltd listed Divinion as one of 473 ‘Tata Group and sponsor’ companies. Tata Pension Management is backed by Tata Asset Management Ltd, where Mukhopadhyay is a director.

When contacted, Tata Pension Management said the disclosure was made by mistake.

“Divinion Advisory Services is not part of the Tata Group nor sponsored by Tata Pension Fund. Divinion Advisory Services appears under a disclosure of Tata Pension Fund, dated August 2022, which is erroneous, and we will be correcting the list at the earliest,” said Kurian Jose, chief executive officer of Tata Pension Fund. Tata Pension’s subsequent disclosures in 2023 and 2024 do not mention Divinion, but only name Mukhopadhyay in his role as company secretary.

A former Tata Group executive said that Mukhopadhyay, 61, had contacted him to join Divinion or make investments with it.

“Mukho (Mukhopadhyay) reached out to me a few months ago asking how I should look to join the board of Divinion or invest in Divinion as they promise to give me some X returns,” a former Tata executive said on the condition of anonymity. “I told him I’ve not given money to the country’s best fund managers, and so did not agree to put my money.”

Tata Sons says none of the group companies has business transactions with Divinion.

Also read | N. Chandrasekaran changed Tata Capital. Now, the company is prepping for an IPO

“We would like to clarify that there has been no business relationship between any of the Tata group companies and Divinion Advisory Services,” said a spokesperson for Tata Sons. “Additionally, Tata Pension Management Ltd or any other Tata company is not a sponsor of Divinion Advisory Services.”

The spokesperson did not comment on Tata Pension Management listing Divinion as part of the Tata Group in 2022. The spokesperson did not comment on whether Mukhopadhyay disclosed to the Tata Sons board that his family members own a wealth-management company, and whether his seeking help from former Tata Group employees constitutes a breach of the Tata Code of Conduct.

The Tata Code of Conduct says a conflict of interest for a Tata Group employee is when an employee “is in a position to derive an improper benefit, personally or for any family member or for any person in a close personal relationship, by making or influencing decisions relating to any transaction.”

However, a Tata Sons executive, on the condition of anonymity, said Mukhopadhyay made all disclosures, without clarifying if he had sought approval from the Tata Sons board.

Read this | Can Flash breathe ‘Neu’ life into the Tata group’s superapp dreams?

According to Divinion’s filings with the ministry of corporate affairs, Mukhopadhyay’s daughter Shreemoyee and mother Paromita owned 50% each of the company when it was founded. In FY24, Shreenandini, Suprakash’s youngest daughter, joined as a shareholder. Paromita, Shreemoyee and Shreenandini owned 100% of Divinion at the end of March 2024. Shreemoyee resigned as chief executive officer in June 2023 and director in March 2024. According to the latest share ownership information, Paromita, jointly with her two daughters, owned 33.34%, while each of the sisters, jointly with the other sister and mother, owned 33.3% each.

Divinion appointed Hormuz Bulsara, former chief operating officer of Tata Asset Management as CEO in August 2023. S. Mahalingam, former chief financial officer of Tata Consultancy Services Ltd joined its board in August 2022, and is one of its three directors. Adil Burjor Busha, a former director with Tata Pension Management, was appointed CFO in October last year.

Queries emailed to Mukhopadhyay and Shreemoyee went unanswered.

Tata Sons, the principal holding company of the Tata Group, owns shares in 26 listed companies, including in Tata Motors Ltd, Tata Steel Ltd and Tata Consultancy Services Ltd, and cumulatively had over $165 billion in revenue at the end of March 2024. Tata Sons is owned 65.9% by Tata Trusts, 12.87% by half a dozen Tata Group companies, and 18.4% by the Mistry family.

“Good corporate governance principles require the undivided attention of KMPs (key managerial personnel) to their businesses and any external engagement, either directly or indirectly, being approved by the board,” said V. Balakrishnan, a former chief financial officer at Infosys Ltd and founder of Exfinity Ventures, a venture capital fund. “This has to do with the full commitment of KMP to the employer as well as protecting the brand due to engagement with unapproved activities.”

Also read | Tata Motors considers new ICE models as EV adoption slows, competition intensifies

In 2021, Divinion Advisory Services set up Divinion Alternative India Fund, a Sebi-registered Alternative India Fund. This fund invests in equities. Divinion’s revenue jumped from ₹40.9 lakh in 2023 to ₹1.94 crore in 2024. It reported a net profit of ₹43.72 lakh last year compared to a loss of ₹1,630 in 2023.

Mukhopadhyay joined the Tata Group in 1988, before moving to Tata Sons in 2000. He moved to TCS in 2008, a year after Chandrasekaran took over as its COO. After steering TCS as CEO between 2009 and February 2017, Chandrasekaran was entrusted as the chairman of Tata Sons. Chandrasekaran’s first executive picked from the Tata Group was Mukhopadhyay, who joined Tata Sons in April 2017.

And read | Tata Motors says it’s confident of maintaining EV leadership. Can it?