Two proxy advisory firms have different views on the appointment of Anant Ambani to Reliance Industries’ (RIL) board. Citing age as the reason, Institutional Investor Advisory Services India (IiAS) has asked RIL shareholders to vote against the appointment of Ambani to the company’s board, while giving a “for” recommendation for the appointment of Isha and Akash Ambani to RIL’s board. InGovern Research Services, on the other hand, green-lighted all three resolutions.
RIL had proposed the appointment of its chairman and managing director Mukesh Ambani’s three children — Isha, Akash and Anant — as non-executive, non-independent directors, as they have been “closely involved with and are leading and managing key businesses of the company”. These include retail, digital services and energy and materials businesses.
The e-voting of all resolutions, which started on September 27, will end on October 26 at 5 pm. The results are expected to be out on or before October 30. If approved, all the appointments would be effective before December 31.
“At 28 years of age, his appointment as a non-executive, non-independent director does not align with our voting guidelines,” IiAS said as a reason for opposing the Anant Ambani’s appointment to RIL’s board.
According to IiAS voting guidelines, it will oppose a motion if the director lacks adequate experience that is less than 10 years of relevant work-experience or is less than 30 years of age. An exception to this rule is made if the director is a first-generation promoter or founder.
IiAS, however, recommended shareholders to vote for the appointment of Mukesh Ambani’s twins Isha and Akash. Isha is part of the executive leadership teams and is on the board of Reliance Retail Ventures, Reliance Jio Infocomm, Reliance Foundation and Dhirubhai Ambani International School. Akash has been the chairperson of Reliance Jio Infocomm since June 2022.
“If the proposed appointments are approved, RIL will have a board strength of 14 members. We recommend a board size of 7-15 members. The above appointments are within this limit,” InGovern, a Bengaluru-based proxy advisory firm, said.
“RIL board and promoters have been conscious about the need for a smooth succession plan and are taking measured steps towards that,” Shriram Subramanian, founder and managing director of InGovern said.
As of March 31, 2023, RIL had a board size of 13 members. While Pawan Kumar Kapil ceased to be a director upon completion of his five-year term on May 15, 2023, Nita Ambani (Mukesh Ambani’s wife) had resigned on August 28, 2023, to take up the responsibility of Reliance Foundation.