A sterling exit for Siva

Ten years after the Es
21 February 2004

Chennai: In a sudden twist, press baron B Ramachandra Aditan, leading the TMB retrieval movement and A Subramaniam, representing the Sterling group that holds 33 per cent stake in the bank, inked a sale deed in the presence of deputy prime minister L K Advani, in the capital.

As per the agreement, the C Sivasankaran-promoted Sterling group will transfer its remaining 33 per cent holding of 95,418 shares in TMB to seven Nadar nominees for Rs. 130 crore. The price has to be paid before the end of the year.

The deal is structured such that each individual will hold less than 5 per cent stake in TMB to avoid having to seek the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) permission. "At last the bank is back with the Nadar community," says Aditan heaving a sigh of relief. He is now busy tying up the loose ends.

Declining to divulge the names of the seven Nadar investors, Aditan says they will soon send in their share transfer applications. "It is now a routine matter," he says. It is learnt that the shares will be lodged with the bank's headquarters at Tuticorin for transfer in two weeks time.

Once again, Sivasankaran, the master corporate trader has come out with a sterling deal for himself in his fight with the Nadars, a trading community.

Sivasankaran will pocket a total of Rs.211 crore as against his acquisition price, which is reported to have been around Rs.65 crore. The Nadar community had earlier paid him Rs.81 crore for transferring 34 per cent out of his 67 per cent earlier holding .