cover story AMBANI SETTLEMENT Anil Ambani “I’m most fortunate having been born twice from the same mother. My father THE COMEBACK has truly blessed me from heaven.” ANIL AMBANI ANIL AMBANI FOUGHT A LONE BUT DIGNIFIED BATTLE USING STRATEGY, EMOTION AND TENACITY TO CLAW BACK INTO THE RECKONING. HIS CHALLENGE NOW IS TO NURTURE HIS EMPIRE EVEN AS HE FIGHTS OFF THE RANCOUR OF A BITTER BATTLE. I By Prabhu Chawla and Shankkar Aiyar KIDt is one of those mysteries that may never be solved. Did Using every tool and drawing on years of contacts in the Mukesh Ambani admit of his own volition to “ownership media and government, Anil meticulously used shots of issues that are in the private domain”? Or was he information and innuendo to nudge the brother back cornered by some very skilful media management? to the negotiating table. The weapons of mass perception While the truth may just make an appearance in one of used included emails, letters, bits and soundbites. Ithe brothers’ biographies, the fact is Anil Ambani has done The unstated threat was that he could do what his war guru Sun Tzu proud. Sun Tzu says the victorious S. Gurumurthy and The Indian Express could not. Every seeks the battle only after it has been won in the mind, rather exposé was timed and targeted. strategised. Anil’s battle was skilfully strategised, carefully The exposé on investments in Infocomm were tailored to calibrated and finished with finesse. Almost guerrilla draw the attention of foreign financial institutions, in style Anil used a combination of facts, emotion and shareholders and, of course, regulators. The spectre of vio- timing to get his brother to the table. Most importantly, lations in corporate governance brought regulators SEBI and almost as in the marathons he runs, 46-year-old Anil the Department of Company Affairs into the picture. When held on tenaciously. the coterie ganged up against him Anil unleashed a series of His focus was single: the mother’s commandment must attacks to keep the outsiders out. Raising issues of prevail. On December 28, 2004 Kokilaben Ambani delivered questionable transactions he spared none, including a four-point peace charter. The Reliance brand shall not be Mukesh’s buddies, Manoj Modi and Anand Jain. He tackled split; neither brother will walk away with cash, no competi- meddlesome directors by raising questions about their tion with each other in businesses created by Dhirubhai and independence and fiduciary responsibilities. total exclusion of outsiders in the family affair. She wanted MUM’S WORD: Anil was certain that without his mother’s the matter resolved in three months but Mukesh vacillated. support, the ownership issue would not be resolved of six directors. ship obviated the need for a Rs 12,000 cr questioned as he was not actions in the RIL scrip. set up. 6 Jan RIL corporate gover- Association has been 14 Dec SEBI asks bourses to will by Dhirubhai. 17 Dec RIC said to have initial promoter of RIC. 28 Dec ADA questions RIL Trivedi and Modi join RIC nance panel seeks status re- amended by postal ballot look into the listing agree- ADA calls for RIL Board parked close to Rs 3,500 cr 23 Dec Bhakta withdraws buyback: “There is more Board. port on implementation of empowering RIL as long as it ment provisions of Reliance meeting raising three issues: in receivables in an off-bal- resignation. than what meets the eye.” 2005 corporate governance prac- holds 26% or more in REL, Group companies. Resignation of M.L. Bhakta ance sheet deal with Smart MDA annuls sweat equity. Corporate Governance 4 Jan ADA resigns from IPCL tices in RIL. the right to appoint directors. I TIME LINE 16 Dec MDA says the archi- Future prospects of REL Entrepreneur Solutions. 25 Dec SEBI to track RIL’s panel comprising Y.P. Trivedi, board and blames Anand 19 Jan REL informs BSE MDA and Nita found to TIME LINE tecture of the group’s owner- I Where RIL invested 19 Dec Sweat equity to MDA buyback to investigate trans- D.V. Kapur and M.P. Modi Jain for the rift. that its Articles of own 45.5% in RIC through 4 cover story AMBANI SETTLEMENT BHASKAR PAUL FEELING BLESSED: on a slippery wicket. While many believed that it was Anil’s Anil offers prayers with entry into the Rajya Sabha that caused the rift, the truth is his family at Tirupati the problems began much earlier. His exclusion from RIL’s after the settlement biggest project, Reliance Infocomm, his absence from the in- Mukesh Ambani augural function and subsequent rumours spread by Mukesh’s groupies were all pointers to a widening gulf. Anil knew his father died intestate and that he could only depend on his mother. He understood that the critical piece of paper was the renunciation of all wealth in favour of Kokilaben by the brothers and sisters Neena and Deepti. But his mother had to be convinced for he couldn’t win the bat- tle without her. Till such time he kept up a brave face and not only was he the obedient son and good brother but also took pains to see that he was seen to be so. Then came the the board meeting of July 27, 2004, when his writ was vir- tually wiped out surreptitiously in a resolution buried in the Supplementary Health Safety and Environment Agenda. nil’s mother who had long begun to suspect all was not right truly believed the younger son was being done in. And proof of it came in the form of the now famous A“ownership issues in the private domain” statement of November 17. His sisters who were wary of the role that “outsiders were playing in what was essentially a family mat- ter” asked the brothers to bury the hatchet. On December 28, 2004 on the birth anniversary of Dhirubhai, the mother stepped in and announced the 30:30:40 formula. Through the seven-month open battle that began in the first week of January his posture and approach was well cal- culated: be reasonable at home and aggressive outside. For someone who had been reduced to the position of an em- ployee director and who had to openly state that the RIL board was like a cricket match where he was playing against 11, Anil has announced invest- Anil fought a tenacious battle for what was his due. Of course he couldn’t have done it without the support of ment in his firms and HELMSMAN: the mother. On the day of deliverance he said, “I must be the Mukesh gets to bidding for airport projects. most fortunate human being in this world—being born twice keep Reliance from the same mother, first on June 4, 1959 and a second Anil was aware that in a battle with such high stakes time 46 years later. My father has truly blessed me from there was bound to be politicking. While he kept up the heaven.” A day after the settlement he announced plans to I By Shankkar Aiyar information update with key members in the Government, invest in his companies, signalling investor confidence and BIG day after the Jamnagar refinery was commissioned including the prime minister, he also was wired on the po- spoke about his plans, including bidding for airport projects in 1999 Mukesh Ambani was on the Net. The site: litical machinations. So when he found the Congress’ neu- and new power plants. Unlike Mukesh whose businesses are www.stanford.edu. The idea: look at the syllabi, trality faltering he exposed the cosy sweat equity deal struck less exposed to retail consumers and where pricing is still course material and papers on communications en- between the kin of a Pramod Mahajan confidant and government administered, Anil’s businesses are retail cus- BROTHER gineering and information technology to order and Infocomm. Not only were Congressmen baying for Mahajan tomer-centric. In telecom he will face price competition, in MUKESH RETAINS THE BEHEMOTH RELIANCE Aread up. No he wasn’t intending to enrol again. Mukesh was thereafter but even those within the BJP who may have sided Energy he will need to navigate politics and policy logjams. simply getting ready for his next foray. Around day 100 after with Mukesh stayed out of the firing line. Three days after the accord, last week, Anil was in Delhi WHICH IS POISED TO BE A TRILLION-RUPEE the commissioning of the RIL refinery Mukesh called in a core The first tremors of the battle began as early as July 2002 meeting everyone from the President, the prime minister, the COMPANY WITH ITS STRONG FOOTHOLD IN group meeting. That was the beginning of the launch of when Dhirubhai Ambani died intestate. Anil who proposed finance minister down to the minister of company affairs. Reliance Infocomm which he has had to sacrifice at the com- Mukesh’s name for the post of chairman in the first board You could call it part of the thanksgiving, you could also call PETROCHEMICALS, OIL AND GAS, AND mand of his mother and in the interest of peace at home. meeting after Dhirubhai’s death realised that legally he was what he famously termed as the “new dawn”. AMBITIONS IN RETAIL AND LIFE SCIENCE Without doubt even as he boarded the aircraft a day companies which in turn withdraw resignations. mittee gives clean chit. 1/share whereas RIL paid Rs Gupta, Lalit and Sapna Lalit Goyal’s brother-in-law politician or bureaucrat at 19 Feb RIC share scam: own the 8 companies which 21 Jan IPCL Board Meeting: 24 Jan ADA sends RIL board 250/share for stake in RIC.