Another Indian snake

[LITTLEREDDOT]

Violet Oon’s bid to buy out business partner goes to trial after she rejects his $6m offer​

Cooking doyenne Violet Oon (seated) with her son Tay Yiming (left), daughter Tay Su-lyn (right) and business partner Manoj Murjaniin 2018. PHOTO: ST FILE

Selina Lum
Senior Law Correspondent

July 11, 2023

SINGAPORE - When Peranakan cuisine icon Violet Oon and her two children gave half of their company to businessman Manoj Murjani in 2014, they believed they had found a business partner who could take her brand international.
The number of restaurants operated by the company, Violet Oon Inc, grew from one to five, but tensions began simmering over salaries, branding, and the sharing of the financial burden.
Things boiled over in 2022 when Ms Oon, her daughter Tay Su-Lyn, and her son Tay Yiming took legal action against Mr Murjani – who is best known for co-founding luxury tea brand TWG – in a bid to buy him out.
Mr Murjani’s holding company Group MMM owns 50 per cent of Violet Oon Inc., while Ms Oon holds a 20 per cent stake and each of her children 15 per cent.
The family filed a lawsuit against him and Group MMM alleging minority oppression, as well as a parallel application to wind up the company.
In April, Mr Murjani made an offer to buy the family out for $6 million, on the condition that the family cannot use the “Violet Oon” name forever.
Ms Oon and her children turned down the offer, and on Monday, the trial opened in the High Court.

The family is seeking a court order to allow them to buy Group MMM’s shares in the company, at a price to be separately determined by the court or a court-appointed valuer.
The family, represented by Ms Meryl Koh of Drew & Napier, accused Mr Murjani of acting in a way that was “commercially unfair” to them.
They alleged that he had conducted the affairs of the company in a manner that not only caused their relationship of mutual trust and confidence to break down, but was also oppressive.

The family said they had legitimate expectations that each side would bear their fair share of the financial responsibility in running the company; that the company’s branding would remain rooted in Ms Oon’s personal identity; and that the family would be involved in the day-to-day management, while the defendants would inject funds and provide mentorship to grow the business.
Ms Koh said in her opening statement: “The company represented Ms Oon’s life’s work and the claimants’ collective dream. Within just three months of meeting him, they gave half of all that to Mr Murjani, believing that he too shared their dream and that he could help them realise it.”
No employment contracts were drawn up for Ms Oon and her children. Discussions were carried out via group chats. The first time a formal meeting was called was in 2020 after the parties’ relationship soured.
The family said that in November 2017, Mr Murjani began making demands to be inserted into the brand narrative as a co-founder of the company.
They said he pressured the family into signing an agreement under duress in February 2019, which stated that the company owed a $1.55 million loan to Group MMM, Ms Oon and Ms Tay were expelled from the board, Mr Murjani was appointed as CEO and chairman of the board, and the company was to pay him $21,000 a month.
This was after he accused them of over-paying themselves.
In December 2014, Ms Oon drew $5,000 a month, Ms Tay $1,000 and Mr Tay $4,500. By November 2018, the salaries increased respectively to $8,000, $5,000, and $8,000.
Ms Koh said expert evidence will show that the salaries were below or at par with market rates.
The family said Mr Murjani kept inflating the overpayment figure and threatened to sue them and close down the company. At the time, the company had just opened its fourth outlet at ION Orchard and was about to open its fifth at Jewel.
The family said they were forced to cede control over the company despite it being a family business.
They also accused Mr Murjani of cutting Ms Oon out of the company’s narrative, by shifting the brand to “VO Singapore” and adding the words “a Group MMM partnership”.
They added that apart from his capital injection of $750,000 to match the family’s and an additional $400,000 loan, Mr Murjani did not bear an equal share of the financial risks.
Mr Murjani, who is represented by Senior Counsel Thio Shen Yi of TSMP Law Corporation, said his offer of $6 million was “more than reasonable”. He contended that the family was trying to squeeze Group MMM out of the venture “at as lowball a price possible”.
The defendants argued that the company was not a quasi-partnership formed on the basis of mutual trust and confidence, and there were therefore no legitimate expectations beyond the written agreements.
Mr Murjani said the February 2019 agreement was not made under duress, but in the spirit of amicably moving forward and building the company together.
He denied threatening legal action and said the $1.55 million loan was the agreed remedy to resolve the issue of the family having unilaterally increased their own salaries without prior discussion, approval or consent.
Mr Murjani said he was entitled to give views on the company’s branding direction, and disagreement on branding did not constitute oppression.
“Why would Manoj invest monies for 50 per cent of the company, agree to work together with the Tays... and expend time and effort in building up the company if he were a mere bystander to a ‘family business’?” said the defendants’ opening statement.

 

[jw5]

"In April, Mr Murjani made an offer to buy the family out for $6 million, on the condition that the family cannot use the “Violet Oon” name forever."

What a ludicrous demand.

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

TWG Tea co-founder loses tussle over domain name and false statements​

TWG Tea co-founder and former chief executive officer Manoj Murjani had registered the domain name twgtea.com under his own name in 2007. PHOTO: TWG TEA

Selina Lum
Law Correspondent


MAY 3, 2019

SINGAPORE - The co-founder and former chief executive officer of luxury tea brand TWG Tea has been ordered by the High Court to hand over the Internet domain name twgtea.com to the company.
In a written judgment released on Friday (May 3), Judicial Commissioner Audrey Lim said the evidence showed that Mr Manoj Murjani, who registered the domain under his own name in 2007, was holding it on trust for TWG Tea.
In an internal e-mail in 2009, he referred to "our domain" and in 2010, he signed a letter declaring that the domain name would "always remain" the property of the company.
TWG Tea was ordered to bear the costs of the transfer and to reimburse Mr Murjani for the fees he had paid.
The company, represented by Mr Tony Yeo, had sued Mr Murjani in 2017 over the ownership of the domain name, arguing that he was holding the domain name on trust for the company.
Mr Murjani, represented by Ms Koh Swee Yen, had countered that he owned the domain name, which was registered before TWG Tea was set up.
He sought compensation from the company for using the domain name as well as damages for being excluded from mention as a co-founder.

However, the court dismissed the countersuit brought by Mr Murjani against TWG Tea, current CEO Taha Bouqdib and Mr Bouqdib's wife Maranda Barnes.
This was in relation to seven statements, on the company's website and in various articles, in which the Bouqdibs and others were referred to as founders, without any mention of Mr Murjani.
The judge said that the founders of TWG Tea were in fact Mr Murjani and the Bouqdibs but "unambiguous" meanings of three of the offending statements - those on the website and in two magazines - did give the false impression that Mr Murjani did not play a role.


In one article, the Bouqdibs categorically portrayed themselves as having come together to set up TWG Tea, noted the judge.
This was done to "place themselves front and centre in the founding of TWG Tea", she said, to reflect the couple's work in building the brand.
The judge said: "They should not have glossed over Manoj in the way they had and excluded him from TWG Tea's history."
But ultimately she rejected Mr Murjani's claim of malicious falsehood, saying that there was no evidence that the statements were calculated to cause damage to him and there was no evidence that he had suffered any damage.
TWG Tea started as a subsidiary of Mr Murjani's company, The Wellness Group.
Mr Bouqdib, who was in the tea business, and his wife, were persuaded by Mr Murjani in 2007 to move from France to Singapore to build the TWG Tea brand.
On Aug 3, 2007, Mr Murjani registered twgtea.com during a meeting to discuss the venture.
In 2011, lifestyle products company Osim International bought an initial 35 per cent stake in TWG Tea and eventually became the majority shareholder.
Mr Murjani resigned as CEO and director of TWG Tea in 2012, amid disagreements with Osim's top management.
He and The Wellness Group started lawsuits against Osim and others, but the claims were dismissed in 2016.

 

[laksaboy]

When Peranakan cuisine icon Violet Oon and her two children gave half of their company to businessman Manoj Murjani in 2014, they believed they had found a business partner who could take her brand international.

Bad mistake.

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

Co-founder of TWG Tea loses case​

Claims against Osim, others dismissed; judge also calls defamation suit 'storm in a teacup'​

The dispute between Mr Murjani and Osim goes back to 2011, when the lifestyle company invested in TWG Tea.

K.C. Vijayan
Senior Law Correspondent

APR 25, 2016


A co-founder of luxury tea brand TWG Tea has lost his case against the chief of lifestyle company Osim International and others, with a judge calling one of his claims a storm in a tea cup.
TWG Tea co-founder Manoj Murjani had his claims against Osim International chief executive officer Ron Sim and five others dismissed by the High Court and failed to convince the court he was removed as chief executive of TWG Tea.
In judgment grounds released on Friday, Judicial Commissioner Chua Lee Ming also rejected his defamation suit against Osim and eight others as "nothing more than a very big storm in a tiny tea cup".
The dispute goes back to 2011, when Osim, which sells healthy lifestyle products such as massage chairs, invested in TWG Tea.
The gourmet beverage firm was launched in Singapore in 2007 as a subsidiary of The Wellness Group (TWG) - a company founded by Mr Murjani - which invests in and promotes spas and health and wellness products.
Osim bought an initial 35 per cent stake in TWG Tea in April 2011.
"Unfortunately, disagreements soon started brewing between the two men at the helm of TWG Tea and Osim," which "boiled over and spilled into this court", said the judge.

A key issue was Osim's subsequent share subscription in TWG Tea in January 2014, which increased its overall stake to 69.9 per cent of the shares in TWG Tea.
The lead plaintiff, The Wellness Group, had alleged that the share issue was an act of minority oppression and breached the terms of a shareholders' agreement on March 18, 2011, between Osim, Paris Investment, itself and TWG Tea.
Lawyers Prakash Pillai and Koh Junxiang from Clasis Law, who represented both plaintiffs, The Wellness Group and Mr Murjani, had sought a court order to set aside the shares issued to Osim and its wholly-owned Paris Investment.

They argued that Osim and five other defendants had acted "oppressively" against The Wellness Group's interests under the Companies Act.
The Wellness Group had accused them of conspiring to injure it and Mr Murjani, and breaching an implied term in the sale contract to maximise TWG Tea's profit before tax for 2013.
Mr Murjani alleged that Osim and others had acted to damage TWG Tea's profitability and acted wrongfully to enable Osim to take control of TWG Tea.
The Wellness Group alleged that they did this using several means, including acts by Mr Sim and Mr Taha Bouqdib, a director and chief executive of TWG Tea, to remove Mr Murjani as CEO of TWG Tea.
Drew & Napier Senior Counsel Davinder Singh and lawyer Jaikanth Shankar successfully countered the claims in defending Osim, Mr Sim and others.
They argued that the defendants acted properly and there was no intention to "dilute" Mr Murjani's shares when the share subscription was raised for TWG Tea, among other things.
After an 18-day hearing over three months last year, the judge ruled that The Wellness Group had "failed to prove all of its allegations".
The judge said while the appointment of directors Khor Peng Soon and Peter Lee to TWG Tea breached an implied term of the shareholders' agreement, it did not amount to unfair conduct within the meaning of the Companies Act.
He said there could not have been any prejudice to The Wellness Group as Osim had control of the TWG Tea board before the duo were appointed.
He also found "no commercial unfairness" in the share subscription issue.
The judge also found that Mr Murjani resigned on his own accord as CEO of TWG Tea in 2012 and was not removed as he alleged.
He noted that Mr Murjani had said in an e-mail to Mr Sim a day after he announced his resignation, that he supported the steps necessary to professionalise the company.
Mr Murjani had also taken issue with a statement released by the Osim board in 2014 in accordance with SGX Mainboard Rules. It had described the allegations as "unmeritorious and groundless".
But the judge said, to an ordinary, reasonable person, the words meant "nothing more than that the Osim board believed that the plaintiffs did not have a good case or that the plaintiff's case was unfounded".
Separately, he dismissed a counterclaim by Osim against The Wellness Group and Mr Murjani that two paragraphs in a February 2014 Straits Times report attributed to a press statement by TWG had defamed Osim and five others.

 

[batman1]

The moment she partner the ah neh,good luck to her.

 

[A Singaporean]

Fucking stupid family to partner with a snake.

 

[Rogue Trader]

Orbee good

 

[Hightech88]

Stop reading at This fellow 'Manoj Murjani'...

These people never learned their lessons. Since time immemorial, never ever do business with Kelings unless one wish to be stucked in the infamous Kelingkia Siao.. (Abnn debts) which will take forever to settle.

Anything to do with monies when dealing with them will always involve false promises, bragging, prata flipping, ridiculous bargaining, loud accusations, threats and dancing even with more pattern than badminton.

 

[CoffeeAhSoh]

Mr Murjani, who is represented by Senior Counsel Thio Shen Yi of TSMP Law Corporation, said his offer of $6 million was “more than reasonable”

.

Tiagong , SC Thio charges s$10k and up for each full day of Trial work ...

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

Mr Murjani, who is represented by Senior Counsel Thio Shen Yi of TSMP Law Corporation, said his offer of $6 million was “more than reasonable”

.

Tiagong , SC Thio charges s$10k and up for each full day of Trial work ...

Thio makes in 1 day what a coffee ah soh makes in 4 - 5 months.

 

[Rogue Trader]

TWG Tea co-founder loses tussle

Once a friend gave me something in a TWG tea paper bag .. after we parted ways I threw the carrier bag into the thrash can and carried the contents in my arms.

Fuck this fake colonial raj company. I refuse to do any free advertising for it