Murugappa Group may have first woman board member in Valli Arunachalam: Report

Shareholders of Ambadi Investments Limited (AIL), the holding company of the Chennai-based Murugappa Group, are set to take a call on appointing Valli Arunachalam to the board at the company's annual general meeting (AGM) on September 21.

“AIL is holding its AGM on September 21 and her candidature to the board is one of the agenda items. The company had sought certain documents from her in this regard a few weeks ago, which were also furnished by her,” a source told The Economic Times.

Moneycontrol could not independently verify the report.

Arunachalam told the newspaper her appointment is “on the agenda”. “I am glad the family seems to be seeing the light of day, and the board (which consists mainly of family members) has placed my appointment on the AGM agenda. Given the family controls the majority stake in the company, I would like to believe that it is a foregone conclusion that I will be appointed as a director at the AGM,” she was quoted as saying.

If appointed, 59-year-old Arunachalam, who has been in a long-drawn battle to be recognised as heir to her father MV Murugappan and his seat on the board after his death in 2017, would be the first woman director of the Rs 36,893-crore Murugappa Group.

"I intend to carry out my duties as a director to the fullest extent. I am a senior technocrat … and have tremendous experience in the business. I propose to leverage all of that experience and contribute to the growth of the company, and the business,” she told the financial daily.

Arunachalam, who is based in New York, said she was denied the board position despite being the heir and holding an 8.15 percent stake in AIL along with her sister and mother.

"Our point has been simple, given our family has limited involvement in the businesses of the operating companies after my father passed away, we should be settled and the family can absorb our Ambadi stake. This is also consistent with my father's wishes," she said.

Since her father represented their “branch of the family” on the AIL board, it was fair that they (Arunachalam, her mother and sister) had a position as a significant shareholder and promoter.