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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Rajan Mittal quit Bharti Retail after ED launched probe -Rasul Bailay

Rajan Mittal quit Bharti Retail after ED launched probe -Rasul Bailay

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published Published on Apr 16, 2013   modified Modified on Apr 16, 2013
-The Economic Times


Rajan Mittal resigned as director of Bharti Retail last November, barely weeks after the Enforcement Directorate launched a probe into a controversial $100-million investment by Walmart Stores in Cedar Support Services, the holding company of the retail venture.

A Bharti spokesman said Mittal had resigned from the board last year to "take out time for his other commitments" and has been replaced by Bharti Group's general counsel and company secretary Mukesh Bhavnani.

A source in the retail industry said Mittal had quit the Bharti Retail board to avoid the frequent summons expected from the ED in connection with the investigations that are expected to take months or even years to complete.

The Bharti spokesman, however, refuted this contention. "We strongly refute this speculation, which is completely baseless and incorrect, and is solely aimed at maligning our reputation," said the spokesman.

A person close to the company said Mittal served on the boards of both Bharti Retail as well as Bharti Walmart, the 50:50 cash-and-carry joint venture company. "He continues to be on the board of Bharti Walmart, which has also been issued notice by the ED in connection with the case. If the objective of resigning was to escape summons, Mittal would have quit the Bharti Walmart board as well," said this person.

Mittal is the younger brother of telecom billionaire Sunil Mittal, the founder of the Bharti Group. Bharti Retail, which is owned by the Mittal family, currently operates more than 200 Easy Day branded stores nationwide.

Both the brothers had started off as directors of Bharti Retail, when the company was founded in February 2007, but Sunil Mittal ceased to be a director in March 2008.

In 2007, the Bharti Group announced its entry into the country's promising retailing business through a 50:50 wholesale joint venture with Walmart. At present, Bharti Walmart operates 20 Best Price branded wholesale stores nationwide even as further roll-outs have been stalled amid internal investigations into compliance of US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), that bars American corporations from bribing government officials in foreign locations.

In March 2010, Walmart, through its Mauritius subsidiary, had invested $100 million in the form of Compulsorily Convertible Debentures (CCD) into Cedar Support, the holding firm of Bharti Retail. Walmart has the option to convert those CCDs into 49% equity into the company in the future. Both Walmart and Bharti maintain that they have strictly followed the Indian laws while infusing the $100 million into Cedar. At the time of this transaction, no foreign investment was allowed in the retail sector. The investment came to light in weeks prior to the government allowing global supermarkets chains like Walmart and Tesco to own up to 51% equity in local consumer retailing ventures.


The Economic Times, 16 April, 2013, http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/services/retail/rajan-mittal-quit-bharti-retail-after-ed-launched-probe/articleshow/19571223.cms


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