Cyrus Mistry to succeed Ratan Tata

Noel Tata, the only man with the Tata surname in the over 100-company, $83-billion group

is not going to head the top job as expected by many. His brother-in-law, Cyrus Mistry has been chosen as to lead the group after Ratan Tata retires. According to the insiders, Noel was one of those who suggested Cyrus as the man for the top job since he was never too keen to take on the chairman’s role. Noel might be a part of the new-look board of Tata Sons. And if he takes on the role then his expertise in retailing business, since he was the MD of Tata’s retailing arm, Trent, till August 2010, and is now non-executive chairman, could be well-utilised to merge some Tata Group retailing operations to create a larger and more sizeable entity.

Other than Trent, Infiniti Retail, which owns the brand Croma, and other retail-oriented brands like Titan and Tanishq are all part of the Tata Group. Noel is also the MD of Tata International, where he has been working closely with global retailers such as Zara, Betty Barclay and Mango for their leather sourcing requirements. If everything falls in place then Tata’s retailing business would strengthen and convert into a retail giant in India.