Murugappa family resolves dispute with Valli Arunachalam

CHENNAI: The Chennai-based Murugappa Group, one of the oldest diversified conglomerates in India, said the disputes and the differences involving the two warring factions of the late patriarch MV Murugappan’s eldest daughter and the rest of the family members, have been amicably resolved.

On Sunday, the group said its members have agreed to settle the disputes and differences between the family branch of the 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, the 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 a statement issued here, 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 advisors.

“This understanding was recorded today (20 August) by way of a memorandum entered into by the members of the Murugappa family with the family branch of late MV Murugappan (including Valli Arunachalam and Vellachi Murugappan). The family members are committed to undertake the necessary transactions to effect the family arrangement within the next 90 days,” as per the statement.

“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 add- ed. The terms of the agreement are confidential, as per the statement.

The parties have also agreed that all legal proceedings between the family groups will be withdrawn as per the terms of the arrangement after all agreed steps specified in the family settlement have been completed.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 it relates to the management or control of, or grants any special rights to the parties in, any such companies, it added.