Tatas staring at $18 bn in writedowns, says Cyrus

New Delhi/Mumbai, Oct 26

Tata Group conglomerate faces potential writedowns to the tune of close to $18 billion due to investments in unprofitable businesses, according to an internal letter that ousted Chairman Cyrus Mistry sent to the company’s Board.

Mistry said in the letter that Indian Hotels Co, passenger-vehicle operations of Tata Motors Ltd, the loss-making European steel operations of Tata Steel, its telecom venture and a ultra mega western Indian power plant of Tata Power are “legacy hotspots” of the company.

“A realistic assessment of the fair value (of) these businesses could potentially result in a write-down over time of about Rs 118,000 crore ($18 billion),” said Mistry in an e-mail.

A spokesman for Tata Sons declined to comment. A spokeswoman for Cyrus Mistry declined to comment. Reuters