By IANS,
London/Johannesburg : As talks between the Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (R-ADAG) and South African telecom giant MTN reach their last lap, the feud between Ambani siblings has started grabbing global attention, with one newspaper even likening it to the one between biblical Esau and Jacob.
From The Sunday Times of London to the International Herald Tribune (IHT) and Engineering News of South Africa, newspapers and web portals around the world are not only reporting on the talks between R-ADAG and MTN, but also on the bitter battle between the Ambani brothers – Mukesh and Anil.
The older brother Mukesh controls the Reliance Industries group, which has interests in oil refining, petrochemicals and retailing, while the younger sibling Anil oversees the R-ADAG group that interests in communications and energy.
“What kind of man travels halfway round the world to sabotage the biggest deal of your career, publicly humiliates your mother and then threatens you with legal action?” queried Sunday Times a few days ago.
“For supporters of Anil Ambani, the second richest man in India, the answer is ‘your older brother’,” the paper said, referring to the recent trip by the Mukesh Ambani family to South Africa.
“India is no stranger to sibling rivalry, but the feud between Anil and Mukesh Ambani, the world’s richest brothers – their combined fortune is $85 billion (£42 billion) – has enthralled the country’s business community.”
The paper went on to add that the row offered a natural sequel to the Bollywood blockbuster “Guru” that is supposed to be based on the life of their father, Dhirubhai Ambani – once an attendant in a petrol station who went on to build Reliance Industries as India’s biggest private company.
In Late May, a few days after Mukesh Ambani challenged his sibling’s attempt to gain a 35 percent stake in MTN, the IHT ran a wire despatch.
“The fight over MTN has pitted brother against brother, a feud that dates back to 2002, when their father, Dhirubhai Ambani, founder of the Fortune 500 Reliance Group, died and left no will,” the report said.
“A siblings’ war of attrition, like the biblical Esau and Jacob may be playing out in India,” wrote a columnist in Vanguard newspaper of Nigeria.
The paper referred to the talks between Anil’s Reliance Communications and MTN, for a complex multi-billion dollars merger-takeover deal. Mukesh, however, has said that he had the first right of refusing a stake in Reliance Communications should it be offered for sale.
South Africa’s Business Day traced the origins of the current controversy, and first refers to Mukesh Ambani’s challenge, and then the “more gossipy” reasons cited by various papers, including The New York Times.
According to The Independent: “The next instalment in the Ambani saga will show whether the rivalry between the two continues to drive both to still greater achievements – or whether, like a character in a Jeffrey Archer novel, only one can succeed.”