The trust–RK Family Trust–is at the centre of a succession and inheritance dispute within the promoter family. Sunjay Kapur’s wife and mother–Priya Sachdev Kapur and Rani Kapur–are at odds over inheritance and control of the Trust’s stake in Sona Comstar, which is worth almost ₹8,000 crore.
RK Family Trust owns 65% of Aureus Investment Private Ltd, which in turn controls the 28% promoter stake in Sona Comstar (listed as Sona BLW Precision Forgings Ltd). In 2019, RK Family Trust had informed Sona Comstar, which was a privately held company at the time, that its sole beneficiary was Sunjay Kapur.
Vivek Vikram Singh, the company’s managing director and group CEO, said during an analyst call to discuss the company’s June-quarter results that the discord was limited to the promoter family and it has no bearing on its performance. “There is far more sensationalism around this than there is impact. Whoever controls the 28% doesn’t have that much [impact],” Singh said.
Aureus Investment, the promoter company, has the right to nominate just one director to Sona Comstar’s board, Singh said on the call, adding that even that power was not absolute. The board may choose to reject the nomination. Even if the board approves it, public shareholders then have to ratify the nomination, he said.
“How the appointment of a single director on a board with six independent directors can have an impact on the running of the company is very bizarre to me,” he said, blaming the media for putting a spotlight on the succession dispute.
The Sona BLW Precision Forgings Ltd stock has lost almost 15% since the sudden passing away of its chairman on 12 June. It closed 1.26% higher on the BSE on Monday at ₹442.8 compared to a 1.54% gain in the S&P BSE Auto Index.
After Kapur’s demise, Aureus Investment nominated Priya as a non-executive director of Sona Comstar. Her appointment was accepted by the company’s board and, later, by its shareholders at its annual general meeting on 25 July. Earlier, Priya was appointed as the managing director of Aureus within a week of Sunjay’s passing away.
Unhappy with Priya’s appointment to the Aureus and Sona Comstar boards, Rani Kapur wrote to the latter company on 24 July, questioning the authority of those who approved the appointment of Priya. She also alleged that she was made to sign certain documents while she was grieving and that she has no knowledge of what she signed upon.
“I was approached multiple times and compelled to sign various documents without explanation or even having time to read and understand the same,” she wrote in her letter. “Despite being under immense mental and emotional distress, I was coerced into signing such documents behind locked doors and though I’ve requested repeatedly, the contents…
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