In the end, it was a case of mother knows best.
After seven months of feuding between the Ambani brothers for control over India's largest private-sector conglomerate Reliance, their widowed mother, Kokilaben, brokered a deal that brought fraternal peace and the carve-up of the US$23 billion corporate empire her late husband founded.
"I have today amicably resolved the issues between my two sons, Mukesh and Anil, keeping in mind the proud legacy of my husband, Dhirubhai Ambani," said Kokilaben in a weekend statement announcing the pact.
All investor eyes were on shares of Reliance Industries Ltd and the companies of the group that were expected to jump today on the Mumbai stock exchange after climbing in the past few weeks on rumors that a settlement was near.
"This [agreement] is favorable," said leading Mumbai stockbroker Rakesh Jhunjhunwala. "The brothers and management have been focusing on this issue [the dispute]. Now they can focus on growing the company, which will have a positive effect on the stock."
Under the division, elder brother Mukesh, 48, keeps control of the oil, gas and petrochemicals businesses of group flagship Reliance Industries Ltd and Indian Petrochemicals Corp.
Younger brother Anil, 46, will get control of Reliance Energy, one of India's biggest power utility firms, Reliance Infocomm, market leader in the country's booming telecoms sector, and Reliance Capital, the group's finance arm.
The epic mud-slinging battle that erupted last November involving the energy-to-telecoms behemoth, which had resisted press scrutiny for years, was stoked by anonymous briefings by both sides.
The fight was closely watched because Reliance Industries has India's biggest shareholder base and accounts for some 3.5 percent of the country's GDP, and sighs of relief at the friendly resolution in government and corporate circles were palpable.
Public figures from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Finance Minister P. Chidambaram down had tried to mediate in the row which began brewing after the death three years ago of Reliance's rags-to-riches founder, Dhirubai Ambani, who left no will.
"I am happy they [the brothers] have kept the interests of millions of shareholders in mind," Chidambaram said in New Delhi Saturday. "I have no doubt both have the capacity to lead the large groups under separate leadership."
The two US-educated protagonists in the battle, Mukesh, chairman of the group, and Anil, who quit as Reliance vice-chairman on Saturday as part of the settlement deal, were as different as chalk and cheese in looks and temperament.
But the one thing trait they shared was a reverence for their mother, whom they had asked to mediate in the row.
The last time the brothers had seemed truly united was at their father's funeral pyre in 2002 where they stood grieving side by side.
Wharton MBA graduate Mukesh was known to guard his privacy and as being a stickler for detail. The more heavily built businessman had kept a low profile until bringing the spat into the open last November by disclosing that the company had "ownership issues."
Anil, a Stanford MBA graduate had always been the more outgoing and had been the group's media face.
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