The Hindu Business Line : Punjab Tractors MD resigns

Eighteen days after the Burman family nominee on the board of Punjab Tractors Ltd (PTL), Mr P.D. Narang, was appointed as non-executive Chairman of the company, there has been yet another top level change at PTL.

The company's Vice-Chairman and Managing Director, Mr Yash Mahajan, has stepped down from his position and PTL's Director-Finance, Mr P. Sivaram, has been appointed by the board as the Chief Operating Officer. Mr Sivaram has also been nominated by PTL to the board of Swaraj Mazda Ltd.

Consequent to Mr Mahajan's decision to step down from the company, the Board has nominated Mr R.C. Bhargava to the board of Swaraj Mazda, and Mr A.M. Sawhney, who is Director-Marketing at PTL, to the boards of Swaraj Engines and Swaraj Automotives in place of Mr Mahajan. Swaraj Mazda, Swaraj Engines and Swaraj Automotives are associate companies of PTL.

Interestingly, Mr R.C. Bhargava is also a Director on the board of Dabur. PTL's board today also announced that it has decided to appoint Accenture as its strategic consultant. Sources close to the board said that the decision to appoint a management consultant was taken to help the company chart out a growth roadmap, including a swot analysis of future strategies.

Currently, Actis is the largest shareholder in PTL with a stake of about 29 per cent, followed by LIC, which has a shareholding of 15 per cent and the Burman family, which has a stake of 12.5 per cent. Today's development comes after several months of speculation that private equity firm Actis and the Burman family are likely to consolidate their position on the PTL board. According to market sources, there was a rift between Actis and the earlier management of PTL on the sell off of PTL's stake in Swaraj Mazda to Sumitomo Corporation even as Actis' open offer was on.

More Stories on : People | HCV/LCV/Tractors

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page