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Tata Sons led by N Chandrasekaran has started early talks with its minority shareholder the Shapoorji Pallonji (SP) Group to plan how the SP Group can exit the company and get money for its shares. According to a report by Economic Times these discussions have taken place between Tata Sons chairman N Chandrasekaran and SP Group chairman Shapoor Mistry. The SP Group owns 18.37 per cent of Tata Sons which is the main company behind the Tata Group. However it has pledged these shares to get loans from banks. Sources told Economics Times that the goal of the meeting was to understand what the SP Group expects. But they also said that it will take time for both sides to reach any final agreement. This meeting is important because it’s reportedly the first official talk between the top leaders of the two groups since 2016. Their relationship had soured after Cyrus Mistry was removed as chairman of Tata Sons that year. Also the SP Group’s move to pledge its Tata Sons shares had made the situation even more tense. The group holds its stake in Tata Sons through two companies—Cyrus Investments Pvt Ltd and Sterling Investment Corporation. This development comes just a few days after Tata Trusts led by Noel Tata passed a resolution saying that Tata Sons should remain a private unlisted company. The Trusts also said that talks should begin with the Shapoorji Pallonji (SP) Group to find ways for them to exit the company. According to the Economic Times the resolution stated that the chairman of Tata Sons should explore all possible options to make sure Tata Sons doesn’t have to change its current private status. This includes starting discussions with minority shareholders like the SP Group to help them sell their shares. This is happening at a time when Tata Sons is under pressure from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to go public. In September 2022 the RBI classified Tata Sons as an “upper-layer” NBFC (non-banking financial company) which means it must list on the stock exchange within three years. That deadline ends next month.