GODREJ FAMILY SEALS DEAL TO SPLIT GROUP’S ASSETS

MUMBAI: The Godrejs have reached a settlement to split the Rs 59,000-crore ($7 billion) locks-to-land development group to “better align ownership in acknowledgement of the differing visions of the family members”.

While Adi Godrej and his brother Nadir Godrej will gain complete ownership over the five listed entities of the Godrej Group — Godrej Consumer Products, Godrej Properties, Godrej Industries, Godrej Agrovet and Astec Lifesciences — Jamshyd and his sister Smita will fully control the closely- held Godrej & Boyce.

Adi and Nadir, together with their children, have been managing the five entities, while Jamshyd, his sister Smita and their families have been leading Godrej & Boyce, which is into appliances, aerospace, locking solutions and construction.

Their other cousin Rishad, who too owns a stake in the Godrej companies, however, has no formal role in the conglomerate. Their grandfather, along with his brother, had established the Godrej Group 127 years ago.

The two branches have held shares across the group and sat on each other’s companies’ boards. But now, they’ll transfer their equity interests after having stepped down from the boards to facilitate a clean separation.

Adi and Nadir will divest their shares in Godrej & Boyce to Jamshyd and Smita, while Smita and Jamshyd will transfer their shares in Godrej Consumer Products and Godrej Properties to Adi and Nadir. Rishad, who is a bachelor, will reportedly distribute his assets equally among the other family members upon his death. He couldn’t be contacted for immediate comments. Both sides will continue to use the Godrej brand for their respective businesses, according to a late evening statement from the family.

Adi, Nadir, Jamshyd, Smita and Rishad own around 10% each in Godrej & Boyce, while about 24% is held by Pirojsha Godrej Foundation — a philanthropic trust created by the family — and 27% by Godrej Investments. The five listed companies have a market capitalisation of Rs 2.4 lakh crore ($29 billion), revenues of over Rs 41,750 crore ($5 billion) and profit of Rs 4,175 crore ($500 million). Godrej & Boyce has a revenue of nearly $2 billion and a pre-tax profit of $72 million.

“The shareholding realignment in Godrej companies has been arrived at in a respectful and mindful way to maintain harmony,” the statement said. The realignment will be implemented after the relevant regulatory approvals have been obtained.

Godrej & Boyce and its affiliates will now be controlled by Jamshyd, Smita’s daughter Nyrika Holkar, and their immediate families. Godrej Industries and the other four listed companies will be controlled by Adi, Nadir and their immediate families.

Adi’s son Pirojsha will be the executive vice chairperson of GIG (Godrej Industries Group) and will succeed Nadir Godrej as chairperson in August 2026, the statement added. It remains to be seen how the group’s real estate assets worth over Rs 3,000 crore, held under Godrej & Boyce, will be split between the two sides. Godrej Properties has been developing some of the Godrej & Boyce land. The split comes even as the fourth generation of the family has been deeply involved in the affairs of the conglomerate.

Commenting on the future outlook, Jamshyd Godrej said: “Since 1897, Godrej & Boyce has always been driven by the strong purpose of nation building. With this future-facing family agreement now in place, we can further drive our growth aspirations with fewer complexities and focus on leveraging our core strengths in high tech engineering and design-led innovation across our strong portfolio of strategic, consumer and emerging businesses.”

Nadir Godrej said, “Godrej was founded in 1897 to help build economic independence for India. This deep purpose of innovating for a cause - the values of trust and respect and the belief in trusteeship and making communities that the companies operate in stronger and better - continue to form the bedrock of who we are 125 years later. We look forward to building on this legacy with focus and agility.” “The Godrej family settlement was ‘locked’ today with the elegance and dignity that the family is known for. No controversies, just all clean like their soaps,” said a post from RPG Group’s Harsh Goenka on X.