Murugappa Family Arrangement Comes Into Effect, Ending Bitter Feud
The Murugappa family has announced that the family arrangement sealed in August this year is now effective, ending a bitter years-long legal battle in the Chennai-based group.
"The Murugappa family is pleased to announce that its members have undertaken the necessary actions to effect the family arrangement, the terms of which had been recorded by way of a memorandum on Aug. 20, 2023," a statement said on Wednesday.
"With this, the family arrangement with the family branch of the late Mr. MV Murugappan is now effective," it said.
The parties will withdraw all legal proceedings between the groups as part of the arrangement in the upcoming days.
The terms of the agreement have not been made public.
Valli Arunachalam, the eldest daughter of Murugappan, has engaged in a legal battle with other family members since 2020, as she was denied a seat on the board of Ambadi Investments Ltd., the holding company of the group. The dispute arose after the demise of Murugappan.
The terms of the agreement were first concluded among themselves and were later recorded by way of a memorandum among the members of the Murugappa family with the family branch, including Arunachalam and Vellachi Murugappan.
The statement noted that no listed company forming part of the Murugappa Group is a party to the family arrangement. "...Nothing in the family arrangement relates to the management or control of, or grants any special rights to the parties in, any such companies," it said.
Apart from the flagship Tube Investments of India Ltd., the Murugappa family is also the promoter of Cholamandalam Financial Holdings Ltd., Coromandel International Ltd., Cholamandalam Investment and Finance Co., and seven other public companies.
The over $5 billion Murugappa Group has, for decades, enjoyed a quiet profile, pioneered the concept of a group corporate board, and let professionals manage the operating entities.
The quiet surrounding the south Indian business empire was shaken when Valli Arunchalam went public sometime in 2022 to articulate her predicament in the system at Carborundum Universal Ltd. after the demise of her father.
Valli wanted an equal opportunity in the family business on the same terms as the male heirs. She sought a seat on the board of Ambadi Investments and alternatively suggested that the family member buy her stake. Valli Arunachalam and her sister together hold an 8.15% stake in AIL.
The shareholders of AIL, however, rejected a resolution to appoint her as a director on the board of the company sometime in the third quarter of 2022.
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