Godfrey Phillips President Bina Modi
Godfrey Phillips Chairman Bina Modi has been outspoken on the family feud. She recently said in a media interview that her husband KK Modi’s companies are not for sale. She made it clear that the group’s companies would not be sold to settle the legal battle with her sons Sameer Modi and Lalit Modi. She said that KK Modi’s legacy is not for sale. It is her responsibility to keep it alive. Bina Modi, 80, has recently been re-elected as the Chairman and Managing Director of the country’s second-largest tobacco company. Let us also tell you what she has said in media reports about the ongoing dispute with her sons and the group?
Companies are not for sale.
Her sons Sameer and Lalit (former Indian Premier League boss) have alleged that she is not working as per their father’s wishes. Both of them also accused their mother of not following the trust deed executed by KK Modi in the year 2019. When Bina Modi was asked if there is any solution to the current dispute, she said that they (Lalit and Sameer) will get 25-25 per cent of the inheritance. But she made it clear that the companies will not be sold.
He told the ET report that the companies are not for sale. Not at all in my lifetime. If there is any other solution, I am ready for it. According to people familiar with the contents of the deed of KK Modi’s family trust, his wife and three children will receive equal shares of the family property. His daughter Charu Modi is also among the heirs.
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According to media reports, it has been estimated that the value of this entire estate could be as high as Rs 4 billion. Apart from Godfrey Phillips, which has a tie-up with Philip Morris to sell Marlboro brand cigarettes in India, the KK Modi Group also includes Indofil, Modicare and Colorbar. Bina Modi had obtained the approval of 75 per cent of Godfrey Phillips shareholders at the Annual General Meeting held on September 6 to continue as chairman and managing director. At the Annual General Meeting, the company’s former CEO Sameer Modi was ousted from the board of directors. In his place, his daughter Charu Modi was appointed as the CEO with 87 per cent of the votes. When Bina Modi was asked how such bitterness had developed between members of a family that once had cordial relations, she said that I am the accused in all the cases. I have never been to court.
The trust owns a 48 percent stake in the group.
ET wrote in its report citing people close to the family that the dispute has become quite heated. Charu Modi has taken her mother’s side in this entire controversy. The Modi family owns a 48 per cent stake in Godfrey Phillips India through a family trust. Bina controls the Modi family trust. The Delhi High Court recently rejected Lalit Modi’s son Ruchir’s petition that Bina Modi’s powers should be curtailed as the trustee of the trust. Bina Modi said I was learning for the last three to four years. She said I was always on the board but I was not prepared for what happened (KK Modi’s demise). The implementation team is good. We will look into the governance issue. The nomination and remuneration committee will be changed. It is very important to have a solution to the concerns of the shareholders.
Target market share of 30 percent
Bina Modi has also been very vocal in the media about the company’s tremendous performance in the stock market in the ET report. The share price of Godfrey Phillips India has tripled since the beginning of the year, due to which the market capitalisation of the company has increased to over Rs 40,000 crore. She said, look at Marlboro… where has it gone? We need to achieve 30 per cent market share. Just a while ago we were at 12 per cent. Now we are at 17 per cent. She said the stock market has been performing well. When her husband was alive, he used to say that if we achieve 15 per cent market share, it would be a great thing. The company has recently announced a 2:1 bonus share issue. Higher dividends have also been declared compared to last year.
