Murugappa Family Settlement Pact Effective, Members To Withdraw Legal Proceedings

Murugappa family, promoters of Chennai-based diversified Murugappa Group, on Wednesday said the settlement agreement with the family branch of late M V Murugappan is now effective.

In August this year, the Murugappa family had announced a settlement agreement between its members putting an end to the fight that arose after the death of MV Murugappan.

"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 memorandum on August 20, 2023. With this, the family arrangement with the family branch of late Mr. M V Murugappan is now effective," a joint release by the family said.

In the upcoming days, the parties will take steps to withdraw all legal proceedings between the family groups and complete some pending formalities, said the release.

"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," it added.

The listed companies of the Murugappa Group are Carborundum Universal, Cholamandalam Investment and Finance Company, Cholamandalam Financial Holdings, Coromandel Engineering Company, Coromandel International, E I D Parry (India), Tube Investments of India, Kartik Investments Trust Ltd, CG Power and Industrial Solutions, Shanthi Gears and Wendt (India) Ltd.

M V Murugappan, who was the former Chairman of the group and the senior most member of the family, died on September 19, 2017. After his demise, a dispute arose between Valli Arunachalam, his eldest daughter and the rest of the family members.

Arunachalam had accused the rest of the family members of denying her a seat on the board of Ambadi Investments, the holding company of the Murugappa Group.

The Rs 74,200-crore Murugappa group, which began in the banking markets of Burma in the 1900s, currently operates 29 businesses catering to diverse markets around the world. It has a presence in 40 countries across six continents employing over 73,000 employees.

Its businesses span from agriculture, engineering, financial services to others such as tea, rubber, construction, polymer fabrics, textiles and travel solutions.