Cipla promoters to decide on family pact in 'due course'

Entire Hamied family to vote as single unit; Firm mum on whether pact is part of succession planning

Having secured regulator Sebi's go-ahead, home-grown pharma giant Cipla's promoters will decide on their proposed family pact in "due course", wherein the entire Hamied family will vote as a single unit.

The main promoter Yusuf Hamied had sought an 'informal guidance' from Sebi on whether the proposed voting agreement among his family members would trigger an open offer.

Sebi has opined that the agreement would qualify for exemption from open offer requirement under takeover norms.

When contacted, a Cipla spokesperson said that the pact has not been executed as yet and the matter will be taken up among the promoters in due course.

However, the spokesperson did not give any specific timeline for execution of this pact, for which Hamied had written to Sebi in October 2014.

The company also declined to comment on whether the pact was part of a succession planning at the 80-year-old group, saying questions in this regard would be "premature" at the moment.

"We have been informed that the voting agreement in question has not been executed till date and the matter will be taken up in due course by the promoters. The rest of the questions being premature warrant no response," the spokesperson told PTI.

The promoter family has proposed to vote together as a single unit under overall direction of Yusuf Hamied in his lifetime, and under his brother Mustafa Hamied thereafter.

After the demise of both the brothers, or both of them being incapacitated, the family would continue to act as a single unit under the "overall direction and supervision" of a family member owning the highest number of shares.

The "voluntary and consensual family understanding" also provides that Kamil Hamied, son of Mustafa Hamied, would be deemed as representative of the existing main promoter Yusuf Hamied in the current scenario if neither of the two brothers is able to attend a shareholder meeting for any reason.

There have been speculations in the past that Yusuf Hamied, who hung his boots as Managing Director in March 2013, is grooming his nephew Kamil as the next leader at the home-grown pharmaceutical giant.

Currently, Yusuf and Mustafa Hamied are non-executive directors and the day-to-day operations are run by a professional management team.

Yusuf K Hamied, 78, who took over Cipla after the death of his father Khwaja Abdul Hamied in 1972 and remained at its helm for 40 years, is one of the biggest forces behind making it one of the best family-run companies in the country.

It commands a market value of over Rs 53,000 crore and has turnover of over Rs 10,000 crore.

All promoters put together hold 36.8 per cent stake in Cipla, while Yusuf Hamied individually owns 15.55 per cent. His sister Sophie holds over 5 per cent stake.