Godrej Family Hire Lawyers After Rift On Land Development, Say Reports
The Godrej family, one of the largest land holders in Mumbai, has hired lawyers to untangle its land holdings, media reports say.
The Godrej family, one of the largest land holders in Mumbai, has hired advisors and law firms to split its land holdings to make way for real estate development, according to a report by Business Standard.
Godrej & Boyce Chairman Jamshyd Godrej has hired JM Financial’s investment banker Nimesh Kampani, and lawyer Zia Mody from AZB Partners, to help in the reorganisation, the report said.
Adi Godrej, chairman of Godrej Group and Nadir Godrej, chairman of Godrej Agrovet Ltd., hired banker Uday Kotak and Cyril Shroff of Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas, the report said quoting people close to the development.
Another report by Economic Times said the contention is around the 3,400-acre land the locks-to-aerospace conglomerate owns in Vikhroli, Mumbai. While the Jamshyd Godrej wing of the family are said to be against “excessive development”, cousins Adi and Nadir Godrej support it.
Most of the land is owned by Godrej & Boyce but Adi Godrej’s Godrej Properties Ltd. pays 15 percent of the project revenue to the company, the Economic Times report said.
“We have been working on a long term strategy plan for the Group for several years. As part of this exercise, we have sought advice from external partners to help us think through options.,”a statement issued by the Godrej Group said. It further added that the family regrets the “sensationalist” media coverage of these “normal and private family discussions.”
Godrej & Boyce, a part of the Godrej Group, is engaged in diverse business segments spanning across home appliances, fast-moving consumer goods, industrial products (process plant and equipment), oleo chemicals, animal feed, real estate development and oil palm plantation through various group companies.
It was a holding-cum-operating company until March 2017 when its majority stake in Godrej Industries Ltd. (around 58 percent) and Godrej Consumer Products Ltd. (around 27.4 percent) was transferred to other group investment companies. It now retains 7.34 percent in Godrej Consumer and 4.64 percent in Godrej Industries.