GE Shipping demerger: Sheths sink differences

The battling brothers have reached a deal. Sources close to them say Bharat Sheth and Vijay Sheth have settled their differences and will demerge the company. They say the shipping division, the offshore division and ONGC have agreed to clear roadblocks to the demerger.

Earlier ONGC objected to the demerger saying that even after splitting GE into a shipping company and an offshore company it wanted the Bharat Sheth-controlled shipping division, with its larger balance sheet, to stand guarantor for contracts the Vijay Sheth-controlled offshore division executed.

But the shipping arm did not accept the condition and this became a stumbling block to the demerger. However, sources say the differences have now been sorted out. And with today's Bombay High Court verdict, sources say the board will meet within a fortnight and accept the demerger process.

It will then set a record date and an effective date for the proposal. After the demerger GE shipping will remain India's largest private shipping company with sales of Rs 2,232 crore last year. The offshore division will be India's second largest offshore company with sales of Rs 348 crore last year.

Even so, investors will watch Ocean House closely. The expected unlocking of shareholder value that was to accompany the demerger, has been delayed once. But they will not be in a mood for more delays.