Godfrey Phillips shareholders OK appointment of Bina Modi as MD
Bina Modi has been reappointed as managing director of Godfrey Phillips India as she got the required 75% of the company's shareholders to vote in her favour at the culmination of the company's annual general meeting on Friday, as per a stock exchange disclosure.
The widow of KK Modi will turn 80 next week and is locked in a boardroom battle with her sons Samir and Lalit Modi, who are contesting her control over a family trust that they want dissolved.
Samir Modi was sacked from the company's board recently. Shareholders have not voted him back. They approved the appointment of his sister Charu Modi to the company's board.
Godfrey Phillips India's shares surged 12.69% on Thursday to close at ₹7,204 on the Bombay Stock Exchange. The company's shares were trading at ₹2,447 on February 1, when ET reported that a shareholder dispute amongst family members over the division of the inheritance of KK Modi had intensified. They have increased by almost 200%, giving the company a market capitalization of ₹37,458 crore.
«I want to pay tribute to my late husband KK Modi who steered this company for 40 years and to whom I was married for 58 years,» Bina Modi told shareholders at the AGM.
She promised to revamp the board and run the company professionally and efficiently.
The company announced a higher dividend than the previous year, and also a bonus share issue in the ratio of 2:1.
«We believe in horses for courses approach,» Bina Modi was quoted as stating at the AGM. She promised to induct fresh talent on the board,
