How to fight a takeover: The clue for Mindtree from L&T’s playbook

The promoters of MindtreeNSE 1.94 % are in a desperate huddle, trying to retain the control of their firm from L&T that is pushing for a hostile bid. They have termed the move as a “grave threat” to the company’s future.

L&T’s ambition is backed by money; there is not much that can stop the firm eyeing a scale that it has long desired.

For the founders of the Bengaluru-based firm, who hold about 13% of the company, there are fewer options. Two decades ago, L&T, the aggressor now, was in a similar spot.

A M Naik, the non-executive chairman of the country’s largest construction and engineering firm, thwarted hostile takeover bids from the Ambanis and Birlas in early 2000s when the company had almost slipped from his hands, a situation Mindtree sees itself in now.