After fisticuffs and fracas, Sanghi Group tries carve-up

After prolonged litigations and literally fistfights — the latest one broke out on Saturday — the warring promoter-brothers of the Rs3,000 crore Sanghi Group, which comprises nine companies including a listed one called Sanghi Industries, are veering towards a division of assets.

“We have started working on a negotiation formula. There are various proposals that are being considered. I think in the next 10-12 days there would be more clarity on the way forward and we hope to reach a settlement by the end of January,” Ravi Sanghi, managing director of Sanghi Industries and one of the Sanghi brothers, told DNA.

He did not reveal details, but sources familiar with the development said there are three packages being considered: An all-cash deal where one group of the Sanghis buys out the other; a combination of cash and assets; and, third, a reshuffling of assets between the brothers.

The group is primarily owned by four brothers — Anand, Sudhir, Ravi and Gireesh.

The elder siblings — Anand and Sudhir — along with their heirs are on the one side while Ravi and Gireesh make up the other faction.

All four have cross holdings in group companies across sectors including cement, textiles, polyester, media and special economic zones.

There have been several complaints filed by both groups in the Company Law Board, courts of law and police stations.

The negotiation process took an ugly turn on Saturday when Sudhir filed a complaint against his younger brother and former Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament Gireesh alleging that the latter had physically attacked him along with his followers.

The police have registered a case and are said to be
investigating.

A compromise, the family is coming to realise, is in everyone’s favour.

“We are open to any negotiation to settle the issue. We are willing to work thorugh a mediator even. We are equally interested in bringing the issue to its logical conclusion,” said Amit, son of Anand, and a director in some of the group companies.

For now, Ravi said there is no mediator involved. “We will try and handle it on our own to avoid further confusion,” he said.

According to sources close to the family, though most of the group companies are not healthy financially, the land bank the group has is proving to be a hard nut to crack.

“There is a chunk of about 3,000 acres with the group and even at a conservative estimate, it would be worth Rs 6,000 crore. This is the asset all of them want. Any amount paid by one group to the other would not match this value. So, the valuations of the group companies is going to be key to the settlement,” the source said.