Bajaj family squabbles over trust money

Our Corporate Bureau
17 March 2007

Mumbai: The Bajaj family's squabble over division of assets has now moved to the group's public charitable organisations, which control investments worth Rs 2,800 crore across various group companies.

Shishir Bajaj, the estranged brother of group patriarch Rahul Bajaj, and son Kushagra Bajaj say they want a 25 per cent share in the assets controlled by these trusts. However, Niraj Bajaj who is aligned to his cousin Rahul Bajaj and controls the trusts has overruled this demand. Other members of the camp are Madhur and Shekhar Bajaj, also cousins.

An eight-fold jump in Bajaj group shares in five years has seen the value of the assets held by these trusts grow more than five times. The assets were worth just Rs 500 crore when the dispute between the brothers erupted in 2002.

These tax-saving trusts hold shares in almost all Bajaj group companies.

The Rahul Bajaj camp says Shishir and Kushagra Bajaj had agreed to the November 2005 formula for division of assets, from which the trusts were excluded, and even reached an agreement to this effect.