The cat is out of the bag. A team of four old Tata hands including one woman and an influential British academic cum member of the United Kingdom’s House of Lords, will be choosing a successor to Ratan Naval Tata who he retires on December 28, 2012.

The Board of Tata Sons, in accordance with its articles of association, has formed a selection committee, comprising of NA Soonawala, Shirin Bharucha, RK Krishnakumar, Cyrus Mistry and Lord Bhattacharya to eventually decide on a suitable successor to Tata, said a statement issued by the company, late Friday evening. Of these five; two — Mistry and Krishnakumar are directors of Tata Sons while Soonawala recently retired as vice-chairman, Tata Sons. Soonawala represents the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust and Allied Trusts while Bharucha represents the Sir Ratan Tata Trust. “The articles of association set out how the day to day business of the companies affairs including things such as how directors are to be appointed, how notices are to be sent to members and directors, how board and shareholder meetings will be held.

These can be amended by shareholders of a company if a special resolution to this effect is passed by more than 74 per cent of votes being cast in favour,” said a Tata official familiar with the matter.

“Unlike the board of Tata Sons or the top management of leading Tata flagships, the presence of a female member is a crucial pointer that professional capability alone will not be the deciding factor for the selection of the Tata Sons chairman,” said experts. Bharucha who worked in a role equivalent to group general counsel was heading the legal department at Tata Sons, say Bombay House insiders. “She worked closely with Nani Palkhivala who was considered as one of the front runners for the post of Tata Sons chairman before Ratan Tata was appointed to the position,” said old Tata group hands.

They point out that the chairman of the principal holding company need not just have professional capabilities as is the case with Tata group operating companies. “Rather apart from a business vision and leadership skills that will inspire professionals, the chairman also needs to be someone who will set a new vision for the Tata group’s pioneering legacy of socially responsible development,” said an expert.

The panel includes Bharucha, a lawyer who worked with the Tata Group for several years. She is now involved with a number of trusts, which work for urban renewal in Mumbai. She is currently the managing trustee at the Urban Design Research Institute a public charitable trust that aims to enrich the understanding of the urban environment and works towards its improvement, by supporting interaction among architects, urban designers and professionals from such related fields as urban economics, sociology, planning, conservation and history.

The sole outside member on the selection panel, Bhattacharyya is the director and founder of Warwick Manufacturing Group (WMG). He has published extensively in the field of manufacturing and was awarded a knighthood in 2003 for services to higher education and industry and was elevated to the Lords in 2004. The WMG has worked quite closely in the past with Tata Motors a company in which Ratan Tata is considered to be quite emotionally attached.

Noshir A Soonawala who served as a director of Tata (Switzerland), Tata (London) and Tetley (UK) is a chartered accountant who was a finance director with Tata Sons. Ratan Tata created a new position of vice-chairman for him when he gave up his executive responsibilities for the finance function on reaching the age at which Tata Sons directors, give up executive responsibilities.

He is a member of the Sir Ratan Tata Trust and the Dorabji Tata Trust which controls about two thirds stake in Tata Sons. Soonawala is also a member and trustee of several other trusts. Soonawala is considered to be close to both Ratan and Noel Naval Tata, Ratan Tata’s half brother who, is set to take over as managing director, Tata International, later this month.

Krishnakumar vice-chairman, Indian Hotels Company and Tata Tea is a close confidante of the current group chairman. A member of the prestigious Tata Administrative Service (TAS) he has been working with the group since 1963 and oversees the group’s infrastructure, realty, beverages, retail and hospitality businesses. He is currently a director on the Tata Sons’ board, chairman of Tata Coffee, vice-chairman of Tata Global Beverages; director of Indian Hotels apart from being a member of the Sir Ratan Trust and the Dorabji Tata Trusts too.

Mistry - the 42-year-old younger son of Pallonji Mistry is currently the managing director of Shapoorji Pallonji overseeing the group’s corporate functions such as finance, infotech, human resources, legal and accounts as also the construction business in India and overseas. Mistry’s sister Aloo, is married to Noel Tata and his father’s position as the single largest individual shareholder in Tata Sons (around 18.5 per cent) is almost certain to make him bat for Noel say outside observers.

“The Committee is in the process of formulating criteria for identifying the most suitable candidate taking into account the global nature and complexity of the Group’s business at the present time. The group would require someone with experience and exposure to direct its growth amidst the challenges of the global economy,” said an earlier statement by Tata Sons. Officials close to Noel Tata point out that he had earlier worked for almost 14 years in Tata Exports which was one of India’s handful of Government of India recognised ‘superstar trading houses’ for a 14-year period before he moved on to take the reins at Trent from his mother Simone Naval Tata.

“The selection process for a prospective candidate would consider suitable persons from within the Tata Companies, other professionals in India as well as persons overseas with global experience. It is expected that the final selection would be made in adequate time to effect a smooth transition and change of leadership,” the Tata Sons statement had said.

yassirapitalwalla@mydigitalfc.com

An earlier version of this report appeared in www.mydigitalfc.com on Friday, 6 February, -- following the announcement of the five member selection committee by Tata Sons for Ratan Tata’s successor -- as FC does not have a print version on weekends. This report is for the benefit of FC’s print readers.