Patching up their differences, the two warring factions of one of the oldest business families in India—the Murugappas—said the disputes and the differences are being amicably settled.
In a joint statement, the Murugappas said its members have agreed to settle the disputes and differences between the family branch of late MV Murugappan (including Valli Arunachalam and Vellachi Murugappan) on one side and the rest of the family members.
The differences in the family arose following the demise of Murugappan in 2017.
His eldest daughter, US-based Valli Arunachalam, demanded a board seat in the group’s holding company Ambadi Investments based on the family’s shareholding. The other members of the Murugappa family rejected her demand.
As per the statement issued here on Sunday, the members of the Murugappa family first discussed and concluded the terms of the family arrangement amongst themselves at a meeting in the presence of their respective advisers.
“This understanding was recorded today by way of a memorandum entered into by the members of the Murugappa family with the family branch of late MV Murugappan (including Ms Valli Arunachalam and Ms Vellachi Murugappan). The family members are committed to undertake the necessary transactions to effect the family arrangement within the next 90 days,” the statement said.
“The family arrangement is envisaged primarily to bring about amity and maintain goodwill amongst the members of the Murugappa family, and to maintain the overall harmony within the family, in this generation, as well as in the future,” it added.
The terms of the agreement are confidential, as per the statement.
As part of the family arrangement, the parties have also agreed that all legal proceedings between the family groups will be withdrawn as per the terms of the family arrangement, after all, agreed steps specified in the family settlement have been completed.
No listed company forming part of the Murugappa group is a party to the family arrangement, and nothing in the family arrangement relates to the management or control of or grants any special rights to the parties in, any such companies, the statement added.
The Murugappa group has 29 businesses, including 10 listed companies, mainly Carborundum Universal Ltd, CG Power and Industrial Solutions Ltd, Cholamandalam Investment and Finance Co Ltd, Coromandel International Ltd, EID Parry (India) Ltd, Shanthi Gears Ltd, Tube Investments of India Ltd and Wendt (India) Ltd.
The total turnover and market-cap of the top-10 group companies is around Rs1.23 lakh crore as of FY22-23 and Rs2.91 lakh crore as of 21 August 2023. The biggest company by current market cap is Cholamandalam Investment & Finance, having a market-cap of Rs86,000 and FY22-23 revenue of Rs12,884 crore. The biggest company by revenue is EID Parry, having a current market-cap of Rs8,000 crore and FY22-23 revenue of Rs35,000 crore.
The group holds leadership positions in several product lines, including abrasives, technical ceramics, electro minerals, auto components and systems, power conversion equipment, transformers and reactors for the power transmission and distribution segment, solutions for railways in rolling stock and signalling equipment, bicycles, fertilisers, sugar, tea and spirulina (nutraceuticals).
