Battle of billionaire inheritance highlights the succession of the chaotic family in India

The death of a sudden Indian pole in June sparked a fierce inheritance battle in a giant of Indian cars.

Sunjay Kapur, 53, suffered from a heart attack on June 12 while Polo played in Sari in the UK. He was a heir to Sauna Komstar, a 3.6 billion dollar business empire (2.7 billion pounds) he inherited from his father. The company, among the best components in India, has a global imprint with 10 factories spread throughout India, China, Mexico and the United States.

Kapoor, a polo lover, moved in the social circles in the Indian capital, Delhi, and according to what was stated, he participated in friendship with Prince William. He was married three times – first of the designer Nandita Mahtani, then to the 90s Bollywood star Karisma Kapoor, before marrying Brian Sashdiv, a former model and businessman, in 2017.

But after weeks of his death, the issue of the caliphate and his family made the issue of the speculation of the media.

In the middle, the mother of Kapoor Rani Kapoor, former SUNA Komstar president.

On July 24, Rani Kapoor sent a message to the SUNA Komstar Board of Directors, which raised questions about her son’s death and appointments by the company after that.

In the letter, which was witnessed by the BBC, she claimed that Kapoor’s death was under “very suspicious and non -interpreted conditions.

The PBC’s pathologist at Sarri said that after death after death, he decided that Kapoor died for natural causes. “The investigation has been closed,” the office said.

Rani Kapoor also claims that he was forced to sign the main documents during mental and emotional distress from the death of her son.

She wrote: “It is unfortunate that although I am still in mourning, some people have chosen this as a suitable time to correct the control of the family’s legacy.”

She also asked the Sona Cometar Board of Directors to postpone the annual meeting (AGM) – which was appointed on July 25 – to make a decision on a new director who will be a family representative.

Rani Kapoor did not specify who I meant as “some people”, but Sona Komstar held the regular general assembly the next day anyway and appointed Sunjay Priya’s wife as an uncontrolled director.

In her message, Rani Kapoor claimed that she was the only beneficiary of her late husband’s property in a 2015 will, which included the majority share in the SUNA group, including Sona Komstar.

The company strongly denied the claims of Rani Kapoor and said that it “has not played any role, indirect or indirect, in Sona Komstar since at least 2019.”

The Board of Directors also said that it has no coercion to postpone its notification and that AGM was “completely complied with the law.” The company issued a legal notice to Rani Kapoor, asking it to stop publishing “false, malicious and destructive” data.

BBC called Sauna Komstar, Rani Kapoor and Baria Sarsdiv with questions.

Public shareholders, including banks, investment funds and financial institutions, carry 71.98 % of the Sona Komstar, which is listed on Indian stock exchanges in the name of SUNA Blue.

The remaining 28.02 % are kept by promoters through a company called Aureus Investments PVT LTD.

According to the company’s files, Sunjay Kapur was the only beneficiary of the RK Family Trust, which controls the share of the promoters in Sona Comstar via Aureus Investments.

“Given the company’s structure, at this time stage, Rani Kapoor is not presented as a registered shareholder, so he will not have any voting rights. But there is an issue of the confidence of the RK family and Aureus investments. We cannot really know whether Rani has any direct interest there until the agreement is announced.”

The Kapoor family’s hostility is not an isolated condition.

About 90 % of the companies listed in India are controlled by the family, however only 63 % has an official succession plan, according to PWC survey.

Kavil Ramachandran of the Indian School of Business says that most Indian family companies are working with “great mystery about details”.

He adds: “One of this (the region) is the one who has the amount of what he inherits and when.”

Experts say that the participation of the family without merit and the absence of official agreements complicate matters.

“In the disappearance of the patriarch (or even before), conflicts arise, on both ownership and administration, and a lot of water could flow under the bridge until issues were resolved in a friendly manner,” said Kitan Dal, who advises many families of Indian works in the monarchy structures.

India Inc. Scattered with the bitter caliphate battles that lead the headlines over and over again.

Mokish Ambani, the richest man in Asia, was involved in one time The struggle of the public authority With his younger brother on the sprawling accreditation empire after their father Dhirubhai Ambani died in 2002 Without leaving a will. Its mother, Kaklapine, was the one who has deserted peace after years.

Recently, family differences in the Raymond group, the most famous textile company in India, and the brothers of Loda, whose company built Trump Tower in Mumbai.

All this often comes at a great cost for Indian shareholders.

“Anyone who has kept the endless control of their hands has suffered. In the end it is the company that suffers, stock prices decrease (as well as) depicting how the company is established in the future,” says Sandeb Nerlikar, founder and director of the inheritance planning company.

But some families are now playing once, twice shy.

The Bajaj family, one of the largest blocs of the country, faced internal quarrels on the caliphate until the court intervened during the 2000s to resolve the dispute.

The Patriarch defined the group’s succession plan, and the division of responsibilities between his sons and cousin. According to the company’s statement, the group is now working through consensus through the Family Council.

Last year, the Godrej Group Group, one of the oldest businesses in India, announced an unusual friendly separation of its billions of dollars.

“Families need to work to plan the caliphate through governance structures like a good plate with teeth. Some control must be granted so that the company can grow in the long term. You also need to allow the next generation to take the initiative in time and the patriarch must take time to prepare them so that family problems do not occur.”

It seems that the likes of Mukesh Ambani have taken it seriously, After he started preparing his three children Well in advance.

Mr. Ramashandran says the caliphate is not something that can be determined “overnight.”

“The preparation of both the family and the operating team during a transitional period is very important.”

Follow BBC News India Instagramand YouTube, twitter and Facebook.