Mumbai: In a surprise move, industrial conglomerate Tata Sons on Monday has replaced Cyrus P. Mistry as its Chairman and named Ratan N. Tata as the interim chairman of the company.

The decision was taken at the company’s board meeting, a company statement said here. A committee has been formed to select the next chairman within four months.

“The committee comprises Ratan N. Tata, Venu Srinivasan, Amit Chandra, Ronen Sen and Lord Kumar Bhattacharyya, as per the criteria in the Articles of Association of Tata Sons. The committee has been mandated to complete the selection process in four months,” the statement said.

The replacement of Chairman of Tata Sons, Cyrus Mistry was done keeping in mind the “long-term interest” of the company, according to a spokesperson. “The company’s board and the principal shareholders in its collective wisdom took this decision, which they thought may be appropriate in the long term interest of Tata Sons and the Tata Group,” the company spokesperson said. “There is no change in the CEOs at the operating level,” the spokesperson added.

Mistry, 48, born in Ireland, had taken over as Chairman of Tata Sons four years ago, in December 2012.