Anil ends Rs 10,000cr case against Mukesh

In the spirit of truce arrived at with his elder brother, Mr Anil Ambani on Tuesday dropped a Rs 10,000 crore defamation suit against Mr Mukesh Ambani in the Bombay High Court.

“Yes, we have withdrawn the suit claiming Rs 10,000 crore as damages,” an Anil spokesman said.

The defamation suit was filed by Mr Anil Ambani in September 2008 shortly after Mr Mukesh’s RIL put a spoke in his attempts to acquire South African telecom giant MTN that year.

RIL had sent a legal notice to MTN asserting its right of first refusal on stake in RCom, a move that forced the Anil Ambani group to drop plans for a merger with the South African mobile company.

Incidentally, the defamation suit was dropped within days of RCom deciding to offload 26 per cent stake in a strategic sale.

Anil had dragged his brother to court, alleging that Mukesh had defamed him in an interview to the New York Times (dated June 15, 2008) that was reproduced in two leading Indian newspapers.

The suit against the newspapers has also been withdrawn.

The Ambani brothers signed a truce agreement late last month, ending a bitter public and legal battle despite arriving at a family settlement to divide the Reliance empire in 2005.

As part of the truce, the Ambani brothers decided to scrap a non-compete pact between their groups, allowing each other to operate in areas hitherto inaccessible.

Anil Ambani treks to Tirumala

The Reliance Dhirubhai Ambani Group chairman Anil Ambani prayed at the famous temple town of Lord Venkateswara in the wee hours of Sunday.

Anil who arrived in Tirupati on Saturday night, reached Tirumala by foot while his wife Tina Ambani and other family members motored to the temple along the ghat road.

Avoids media

Mr. Anil Ambani who reached the temple town at 1.30 a.m in the morning avoided talking to the waiting media persons.

Later, he participated in the ‘Suprabhatam'- an early morning ritual performed inside the temple and offered his prayers to the presiding deity along with his family members. This is his first visit to the hill temple after entering into a truce with his elder brother Mukesh Ambani recently.

For the first time, Anil stayed overnight at his elder brother's plush guesthouse at Tirumala and flew back to Mumbai after the darshan.

Anil Ambani eyes MGM

Anil Ambani plans a takeover of the Metro-Goldwyn-Meyer Hollywood studio in an attempt to become one of the world’s most powerful film bosses, the Daily Telegraph reported on Saturday.

When contacted, a spokesperson from the Anil Ambani Group declined to comment.

Anil Ambani already owns a controlling stake in Steven Spielberg’s DreamWorks studio and has struck a series of deals with stars including Brad Pitt, Jim Carrey, Julia Roberts and George Clooney to develop their films.

Anil Ambani-led Reliance Big Pictures produced two most successful films last year while its current blockbuster ‘The 3 Idiots’ has broken Indian box office records.

According to the report, he hopes to expand his influence with an ambitious bid for MGM, the Hollywood studio which owns the James Bond franchise.

Sources close to Ambani confirmed his interest in acquiring MGM and it would help him achieve his ambition to become the world’s most powerful film mogul, the report said.