There has been major differences among family members of the Godrej Group, over future business strategy and the development of a prized Mumbai land parcel.
The primary reason for the feud between family patriarchs Jamshyd Godrej and Adi Godrej is a 1000-acre plot in Mumbai’s Vikhroli suburb and they have sought the intervention of some of India’s top businessman and lawyers to help resolve the differences, said sources familiar with the matter.
Jamshyd Godrej, who controls the unlisted Godrej & Boyce, has got in banker and industry veteran Nimesh Kampani and lawyer Zia Mody as advisors while Adi and Nadir Godrej have Kotak Mahindra Bank’s Uday Kotak and legal veteran Cyril Shroff on their side.
The people quoted above, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the advisors are tasked to discuss the points of differences between the two and help parties reach acceptable solutions.
Adi and Nadir Godrej control the group’s three listed companies, namely; Godrej Consumer Products Ltd (GCPL), Godrej Properties Ltd and Godrej Agrovet.
Jamshyd-controlled Godrej & Boyce has 4.64 percent stake in Godrej Properties and 7.34 percent in GCPL.
Apart from this, Jamshyd Godrej and family’s trust owns 8.66 percent in Godrej Industries.
Godrej Properties, listed in 2010, has said to have sold real estate worth over Rs 5,000 crore in 2016 alone. Adi Godrej is chairman of the company and his son Pirojsha Godrej is executive chairman.
As part of the family arrangement reached in 2011, the land parcel in Vikhroli owned by Godrej & Boyce but is ‘co-developed’ with Godrej Properties who receives a 10 percent fee of the total revenue generated from the development. The design and construction costs borne by Godrej & Boyce.
Godrej & Boyce has a total land parcel of 3000 acres, nearly two-thirds of this land is covered in mangroves and hence cannot be developed.
