A dramatic family succession battle has erupted within Sona Comstar, an auto empire worth about ₹30,000 crore, after its Chairman Sunjay Kapur passed away last month during a polo match in the UK. His mother, Rani Kapur, levelled allegations that she was left out of making key decisions after being excluded from Friday's Annual General Meeting.
She claimed that the decision to appoint her daughter-in-law, Priya Sachdev Kapur, as a non-executive director and representative of the family was made without her consent. She also said that such decisions were an attempt to usurp the family legacy. The company refuted the claim and said that board decisions followed all the due process and shareholder approval.
Sunjay Kapur
Sunjay Kapur, 53, a seasoned polo player, collapsed during a polo match at the Guards Polo Club, UK, on June 12. Reports say that he died due to a fatal heart attack caused by bee ingestion.
Kapur was known for high-profile relationships. He is survived by two children, Samaira and Kiaan, from his previous marriage to Karisma Kapoor, the Bollywood actress. He married Priya Sachdev in 2017. A year later, he separated from Karisma. He had one son with Priya named Azarias. She was the daughter of the car dealer Ashok Sachdev and was a socialite and model in Delhi. She also co-founded the Rock N Shop, which was one of India’s early commercial platforms.
Kapur succeeded his father in 2015, after which he transformed Sona Comstar into a global player. According to Forbes, he had a net worth of $1,2 billion, and at the time of his death, it peaked at ₹1.6 billion, making him bigger than some major Bollywood stars.
After the death of the chairman
The company's board has unanimously appointed Jeffery Mark Overly as chairman.
Priya was inducted as the additional non-executive director on Sona Comstar’s board in June.
Kapur’s mother, Rani, the former Chairperson of the Sona group and the widow of the group founder Dr Surdinder Kapur, claimed in a letter to the board of Sona BLW Precision Forgings that she was coerced and excluded from key decisions while she was mourning the death of her son.
She is the main owner of the Sona Group, which she inherited through her late husband's will.
She had written to SEBI and other company shareholders alleging that she was pressured into signing documents without being able to fully review them.
Rani identified herself as a majority shareholder in Sona Group and the company, as per the will of her husband.
She described the AGM as insensitive and asked for the meeting to be postponed.
Rani also added that “some people have chosen this as an opportune time to wrest control and usurp the family legacy.”
She also declared that she had not given her consent for officially appointing any person to come on the company‘s board and represent her within the Sona Group or the company. "I’ve been informed that certain people are representing themselves as being the largest shareholders of the Company since they claim to represent the interests of the family in the Company," she said.
In the letter, she also claimed that her son’s death was sudden and suspicious. "Despite being under immense mental and emotional distress, I was coerced into signing such documents behind locked doors, and though I’ve repeatedly requested, the contents of such documents have never been revealed to me," she said in the letter.
Sona Comstar, however, went ahead with their AGM on Friday and then issued a statement that said that Rani Kapur has not been a shareholder of the company since 2019 and so her request ot delay it had no legal standing. The company also clarified that the appointment of Priya Sachdev Kapur was based on the Aureus Investment Nomination and the Remuneration Committee.
The succession conflict and how the company deals with it will determines the control over one of India's biggest auto manufacturer companies.
