Only a month after Sona Comstar chairperson Sunjay Kapur died in London, a household dispute has erupted over the inheritance of one in every of India’s main auto element makers.
Citing a 2015 will, Sunjay’s mom Rani Kapur has claimed to be the only beneficiary of the property of her late husband and firm founder Surinder Kapur. In a letter to the Sona Comstar board, she additional claimed that she was coerced into signing sure paperwork with out revealing their content material by people she didn’t title.
In her 24 July letter, Rani Kapur known as for deferring the corporate’s annual basic assembly (AGM) scheduled for the subsequent day. She expressed concern that sure people can be appointed to the Sona Comstar board as nominees of the Kapur household with out her consent.
New appointment
Nevertheless, the AGM was held, the place Priya Sachdev Kapur, spouse of late Sunjay Kapur, was appointed non-executive director.
“It’s unlucky that whereas the household and I are nonetheless in mourning, some individuals have chosen this as an opportune time to wrest management and usurp the household legacy,” Rani Kapur wrote. Mint has seen a duplicate of the letter.
Rani Kapur’s letter stated her son had died “beneath extremely suspicious and defined circumstances”, and whereas she was in mourning, “some individuals have chosen this as an opportune time to wrest management and usurp the household legacy”.
In a press assertion, Sona Comstar, formally known as Sona BLW Precision Forgings Ltd, acknowledged receiving the letter. The corporate stated it selected to proceed with the AGM based mostly on authorized recommendation acquired. It additionally identified that Rani Kapur was not a shareholder of the corporate.
Aureus
At stake is the 28.02% promoter shareholding in Sona BLW, which was value practically ₹8,200 crore as of Friday.
Apart from Priya Sachdev Kapur, no new appointments had been made on the AGM. Vivek Vikram Singh, CEO and MD; Shradha Suri, an unbiased director; and Jeffrey Mark Overly, unbiased director and chairperson, had been re-appointed.
The corporate stated Priya was nominated by Sona Comstar’s promoter firm Aureus Investments Pvt. Ltd, which holds a 28.02% stake. Aureus’ administrators embody Sunjay Kapur, Dinesh Kumar Agarwal, and Priya Kapur, who was appointed because of an off-the-cuff emptiness arising, as per firm info web site Tofler.
The Sona Comstar assertion pointed to a Might 2019 declaration figuring out Sunjay Kapur as the only useful proprietor of RK Household Belief, a major shareholder of Aureus. As per firm information, Mrs. Rani Kapur has not been a shareholder of the corporate no less than since 2019, it added.
Sona assertion
“For readability, the corporate confirms that no paperwork have been signed or obtained from Mrs. Rani Kapur by the corporate following the passing of Mr. Sunjay Kapur,” Sona Comstar added.
A spokesperson stated the corporate’s stance was made clear in its press assertion. Mint couldn’t attain Rani Kapur and Priya Kapur for remark. Amid the developments of the day, Sona Comstar’s shares fell 4% as in opposition to a 1% fall in Nifty Auto. The inventory has misplaced a tenth since Kapur’s demise.
Vaibhav Gaggar, Rani Kapur’s lawyer, disputed firm’s assertion that she does not maintain any shares within the firm.
“Submit-2015, she was the one controlling all the things for the belief of the household. No matter be the constructions which had been put in place, in the end, she was the one who was the controlling head. So far as the small print go, she was not the one who was dealing with the day-to-day affairs; so, she shouldn’t be conscious of the total particulars. She is asking the corporate to cooperate and provides full particulars.”
Subsequent steps
With the corporate denying any influence and shifting forward with the AGM, Gaggar stated the subsequent steps within the concern needs to be taken by Rani Kapur.
“Nothing has been selected the subsequent steps but.”
On the construction of the corporate and who was the controlling trustee of RK Household Belief which is on the centre of the dispute, Gaggar didn’t make clear.
“There’s a lot to it. It should begin unfolding. Ms Kapur has talked about some very suspicious issues,” he stated, with out elaborating.
Aureus Funding’s shareholders as of 31 March 2024 embody RK Household Belief (65.69%), Raghuvanshi Funding Pvt. Ltd, (27.81%) and Sunjay Kapur (6.5%), as per a regulatory disclosure made in November. Vivek Vikram Singh, MD of Sona Comstar, and Kiran Manohar Deshmukh additionally maintain an insignificant stake.
Only a week after Kapur’s demise, on 20 June, Aureus held a unprecedented basic assembly, the place Priya Kapur was appointed as managing director for 3 years at a wage of ₹1 crore per 30 days. The explanation was given because the creation of an off-the-cuff emptiness because of Kapur’s demise.
Rani Kapur is among the administrators at Raghuvanshi Funding Pvt. Ltd together with Nitin Sharma, firm secretary and Dinesh Kumar Agarwal. Kapur was appointed as director on 19 February, 2016, as per statutory disclosures.
Little influence
“The administration’s commentary put up Sunjay Kapur’s demise was clear, and the plan was laid out. Given the alternatives for the corporate in worldwide markets and the home market, there should not be a lot of an influence within the close to time period,” stated Saji John, Senior Analysis Analyst at Geojit Monetary Companies.
Sunjay Kapur died on 12 June this 12 months because of a sudden coronary heart assault whereas enjoying polo in Windsor, England. Studies point out {that a} bee flew into his mouth throughout the match, which can have led to a coronary heart assault. He’s survived by his third spouse Priya, mom Rani, youngsters Samaira, Kiaan and Azarias, and sisters Mandhira Kapur Smith and Superna Kapur Motwane.
Azarias is his son with Priya. Sunjay’s second spouse was Karisma Kapoor, and Samaira and Kiaan are their youngsters. He was first married to Nandita Mahtani.