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Nadars-Siva battle for TM Bank drawing to a close

Our Correspondent in Madras

The long-drawn battle for control of Tamilnad Mercantile Bank, being waged by C Sivasankaran, the non-resident Indian businessman and chairman of the Sterling group, and the Nadars is showing signs of a close.

According to media reports, the two are on the verge of sewing up an agreement.

The two sides held several meetings last week at the behest of Cho Ramasamy, respected journalist and political commentator, according to some reports in the Indian media.

It is believed that the Sterling group chief might eventually agree to offload his stake in TMB in favour of the Nadars for Rs 1.85 billion. Reports had earlier hinted that he was looking at Rs 2.50 billion for the deal while the Nadars were willing to part with only Rs 1 billion.

The Nadar community, it is believed, is inclined to hike its offer to Rs 1.5 billion, as Sivasankaran had apparently extended other attractive terms like adequate time for the Nadars to pay up.

An instalment system has been discussed. It has been proposed the Nadars will get stand to earn the voting rights, shares and the irrevocable power of attorney from Sivasankaran as soon as they pay up the first instalment.

Sivasankaran has a 60 per cent stake in TMB. However, the Reserve Bank of India had barred him from taking over control on technical grounds. The Nadars are believed to have brought upon legal and political pressure to keep him off TMB's helm.

The contentious issue, observers said, has tested the patience of both the sides. Hence the moves towards early solution.

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Nadars, Sterling Siva battle for control of TMB

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