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Ratan Tata,
the chairman of the Tata Group, spoke to CNBC after the inaugural
presentation of
Tata Consultancy Services' initial public offering. Excerpts
from the interview:
On a foreign listing for TCS
We did look at a simultaneous listing and the educated consensus
was that it would be very complicated; that's why we did the
domestic listing first. We hope that in the course of time we
will have a foreign listing
On the timing of the IPO
What might be considered the best time? There was a moment five-six
years ago when it was considered opportune. Had we gone public
at that time, I think we would have seen the Tatas in an enviable
position in terms of the money it collected. But we would have
had many dissatisfied shareholders because the IT industry went
through a slump [subsequently]. So the best time, I think, is
a matter of opinion. We would like this year to be one that
investors are happy with; that they see growth, they see enhancement
of their shareholder value, and that the
pricing of this issue is right rather than high.
On the pricing
I wouldn't claim to be an expert on this. We appointed investment
bankers who know the market and when we agreed to this pricing
band we accepted that they were the best judges of what might
be a realistic band.
On using the resources
The Tata Group will continue to expend funds on its main businesses,
in promoting its companies and in growing its portfolio. This
is the normal manner in which it operates. We will restructure
our balance sheet, we would look at enhancing the value of
Tata Sons and, indeed, we may look at means of adding to
our portfolio at Tata Sons, the details of which I cannot share
with you because there are no specific plans on that front right
now.
Uploaded on July 22, 2004
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