Radia Tapes: (20090618-185014) Radia with Noel Tata

Duration: 00:01:58; Aspect Ratio: 1.250:1; Lightness: 0.077; Volume: 0.259; Cuts per Minute: 5.549; Words per Minute: 151.332

Niira Radia has a chat with Noel Tata on June 18, 2009, discussing the media plan for Trent Ltd's board agreeing to renew his managing director contract for another five years. "These are the times when the fact that I never speak to anybody come to my rescue," says Noel Tata. Radia replies, "Which is why I stopped the BusinessWorld story and shifted it to Business Today, because I got the questions I wanted….and not the questions that they wanted."

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(Phone rings)

Radia: Hi Noel.
NT: Hi Nira. I checked up. Yeah, it's not an issue to say that the board recommended to the shareholders.. the last.. rather than saying yesterday's board meeting which sounds contrived for this.. they will say at the last board meeting of trend the directors have recommended to the shareholders that Mr. Tata's Managing Director contract be renewed for another five years.

Radia: Right
NT: Huh? And they said they don't disclose it to the stock exchange because it's not price sensitive information.
Radia: Okay fine. Okay. So I'll just say that it was a last board meeting as a last meeting of Trent to recommend it... but fine... write to the shareholders. I'll word it and I will put it on your mail and then I will tell him that the very premise of your query is therefore wrong and we don't comment on market speculation. Yeah. I will put it that way.

Radia: Chalo...sorry about that...

NT: No! Not at all! What can you do? That's when - These are the times when the fact that I never speak to anybody comes to my rescue you know..

Radia: Isn't it! But that doesn't mean you don't speak.

Radia:...Which is why I stopped the Business World story and shifted it to Business Today because I got the questions I wanted. The questions that they wanted.. they couldn't resist the succession issue and they said, 'No we have to discuss even if it's off the record' I said, 'I'm sorry, on record or off record, that will not happen.' Then they said, no we'll - okay if we do retail and we won't give you cover.. I said, 'I'm sorry, no cover, I'm not talking'.

Radia: We negotiated out and anyway.. Business Today has come with their set of questions which is just right...

(Tape ends)

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