Sibling rivalry dominated Indian Inc in '05

Sibling rivalry remained the flavour of the Indian corporate story in 2005, with conflicts in at least three families spilling out in the public, but the most engaging of them all was the fight between the Ambanis "� Mukesh and Anil "� for control of the Rs 1,00,000 crore Reliance empire.

It was no ordinary battle and required someone mightier than the two Ambanis to resolve the matter. In stepped Kokilaben, widow of late Dhirubhai Ambani, who rolled out a peace plan, which her sons accepted on June 18.

The dispute generated considerable interest in the country, where only 25 million of the over 1 billion people are estimated to hold shares, so much so that the media devoted 1,370 minutes on prime-time television on the fight for control over the empire.

At one point of time even senior ministers in the government appealed to the siblings to resolve their differences. As per the settlement announced by the Ambani family matriarch, Mukesh got flagship petro-chemical company Reliance Industries as well as IPCL, while Anil got Reliance Infocomm, Reliance Energy and Reliance Capital.

Post-division, the brothers worked out a demerger scheme, which crossed the last hurdle early this month, when the Bombay High Court put its stamp of approval on it.

Another family feud that was played in full public view was the one between the Nandas. Escorts chief Rajan Nanda's decision to sell Escorts Heart Institute to Ranbaxy's Fortis Healthcare in a Rs 585-crore deal enraged younger brother Anil, who moved the Delhi High Court to stall the deal and restore the hospital's status to that of a charitable entity.

"I have moved the court because the institute was supposed to be a charitable trust. And even after converting it into a limited liability company, a sale is illegal since it is misuse of public funds. I call it misuse because they will be using the money to clean the financial mess. I will continue my fight. There is no question of withdrawing my case," Anil said.

But if some family dispute deserves the title of corporate shocker of the year, the Mafatlals would certainly win hands-down. The Mafatlals, facing troubled times on the business front, shot to spotlight with the news of sex change of one of the siblings.

The family, embroiled in a bitter property dispute over the sprawling 10,000 sq ft flat at Altamount Road in Mumbai, was in news when reports came in, rather late, about Aparna, one of the daughters of late Yogindra Mafatlal, undergoing sex change to gain control of the flat.

Aparna, now Ajay Mafatlal, the 48-year-old Mafatlal scion, has denied that he took the step (in November 2003) for control of the property. "I haven't changed my sex for the property. I had the mannerisms of a boy since I was six years old and underwent the change for personal reasons," he said.

Moving away from disputes in corporate families, 2005 was also a year that saw many Indian corporates consolidate their positions and on the policy side, hectic efforts were made by the government to come out with a new Companies Act.

Talking about consolidation, UB group chairman Vijay Mallya took steps to consolidate his spirits business after finally acquiring rival Shaw Wallace & Co in a Rs 1,300-crore deal. The $2-billion UB group announced that it would bring its widespread liquor business under one single entity "� United Spirits "� and list the same by March 2006.

"We will merge all our spirits companies into one and will complete the process by March 2006. By this time, we will finish everything "� restructuring and rationalisation of the group's business and brands," said Mallya. The company is now in the process of floating two initial public offerings of about $200 million each to fund its aviation venture and retire debt in United Spirits.