Industrialist Shyam Kothari passes away

Mukesh Ambani's brother-in-law was heading the $100-mn H C Kothari Group

Shyam Kothari, son of late industrialist H C Kothari and the brother-in-law of India's richest man Mukesh Ambani, passed away today in New York, where he was being treated for cancer. He was 54.

Kothari, who was famed for his business intelligence by his peers in Chennai as well as the rest of the country, headed the $100 million H C Kothari Group, which has interests in sugar, chemicals, and petrochemicals, among other sectors.

The group was founded by H C Kothari with his brother D C Kothari with interests as diverse as plantations, fertilisers, sugar, textiles, chemicals, financial services and stock broking. Shyam Kothari joined the business when he was 24; his father and uncle, however, parted ways soon after, dividing the business between them. 

After the death of his uncle, Shyam Kothari fought a bittler legal battle over the busines with his cousin Pradip in 1993. It was alleged at the time that Shyam Kothari used 11 satellite firms of Reliance Industries to invest in the rights issue of Kothari Industrial Corporation to take management control of the company, which was part of D C Kothari's empire. The case was fought first in the Madras High Court and subsequently in the Corporate Law Board. However, the cousins later patched up and reached an agreeable settlement. 

Under Shyam Kothari's leadership, the Group started Investment Trust of India (ITI) and Kothari Pioneer Mutual Fund in the mid-'90s. The latter, done was through Pioneer USA and ITI, which was a non-banking financial instituion, is widely regarded in the industry as the country's first private MF. It was later acquired by Kolkata-based TDK Capital. 

Shyam Kothari is survived by his wife Nina, who is the daughter of late industrialist Dhirubhai Ambani, and a son and daughter.