The Mappillai Family
The Malayala Manorama newspaper traces its roots to the pre-Independence of India. Kandathil Varghese Mappillai brought out the first edition of the Malayala Manorama newspaper on 22 March, 1890 in Kottayam. In an era when there were few newspapers around – except the ones from Churches, Malayala Manorama was a newspaper that would be different and stay away from religion. Though the first edition was a weekly, the newspaper became bi-weekly in 1901, thrice a week in 1918 before eventually becoming a daily newspaper in 1928.
After Kandathil Varghese Mappillai died in 1904, his nephew K.C. Mammen Mappillai took over as Editor of Malayala Manorama. K.C. Mammen Mapillai had varied business interests even in those times. He was the Chairman of the National and Quilon Bank, that was one of the largest banks in the Thirties. He also founded an Insurance company, and popularized rubber cultivation. K.C. Mammen Mapillai’s son, K.M. Cherian took over as the Chief Editor of the paper in 1954. His younger brother K.M. Mathew joined him in the newspaper in 1954, before becoming the Managing Editor soon thereafter. K.M. Mathew decided to keep the Manorama Group within the family, and began involving the extended family in running the newspaper and its other businesses. K.M. Mathew brought in his nephew, Mammen Varghese who helped launch M.M. Publications. He brought in other nephew K.O. Kurian into the business as well. Today Mammen Mathew, the eldest son of K.M. Mathew is the Editor and Managing Director of Malayala Manorama. Another son, Philip Mathew is the Managing Editor.
Today, the family has interests in real estate, construction, rubber plantation, retail ventures, magazines, media school and two television channels – Mazhavil Manorama, the entertainment channel and Manorama News, the news channel. 210 members of the extended family holds shares of varying percentages in the Company.
Business
Tyre Manufacture
MRF Limited
Trade and Wholesale
Commercial Broadcasting Private Limited
Real Estate
Aero Estates and Leasing Company Limited
Badra Estates and Industries Limited
Reclaimed Rubber Manufacturer
GRP Limited
Plantations
Devon Plantations and Industries Limited
Balanoor Plantations and Industries Limited
Pandalur Plantations Private Limited
Coffee Distribution
India Coffee and Tea Distribution Company
Investments
Philips Investments Private Limited
Mammen Mappillai Investments Limited
Pearl Investments and Finance Company Private Limited
Peninsular Investments Private Limited
Tranquil Investments Private Limited
Kandathil Investments Private Limited
Comprehensive Investment and Finance Company Limited
Avittam Investments Private Limited
V A Investments Private Limited
Flower Export
Indo Bloom Limited
Rubber
M M Rubber Company Limited
The Gokul Rubber and Tea Plantations Limited
Coastal Rubber Equipment Private Limited
Housing
M M Housing Company Private Limited
Printing Inks
Nanotech Printing Inks (India) Private Limited
Printing
Balanoor Printers Limited
Retail Trading
G Mart Limited
Toy Manufacturing
Funskool
Forestry and Logging
Sicaf Private Limited
Machines
Devon Machines Private Limited
Manufacturing
JCEE Manufacturing and Services Private Limited
Financial Planning
Comprehensive Investment and Finance Company Private Limited
Shipping Services
Vibgyor Shipping Services (India) Private Limited
Energy
Tirunelveli Vayu Energy Generation Private Limited
Consultancy
Shuka Consultancy Services Private Limited
Family & Friends
Affiliated Interests Family Members Friends
the son of K M Mathew, Managing Editor
the youngest son of K M Mathew, Executive Editor
member of Mappillai Family, Director and Deputy Edtior, Director, Young India Agencies Private Limited, Director, Badra Estates and Industries Private Limited, Director, MMTV Limited
member of Mappillai Family,Director, M M Rubber Company Limited, Director, Mammen Mappillai and Investments Limited, Director, M M Research Company Private Limited, Director, Philips Investments Private Limited, Director, Balandoor Plantations and Industries Limited
member of Mappillai Family,Director of the Company, Director, GRP Limited, Director, Devon Plantations and Industries Limited, Director, M M Research Company Private Limited, Director, India Coffee and Tea Distributing Company Private Limited, Director, Philips Investments Private Limited, Director, Commercial Broadcasts Limited, Director, Indo Bloom Limited, Director, Rembrandt and Vandykes Private Limited, Director, Philips Coffee and Tea Limited
member of Mappillai Family,Director, MMTV Limited, Director, Young India Agencies Private Limited
member of Mappillai Family, Chief Associate Editor of The Week, Director, Young India Agencies Private Limited, Director, Balanoor Plantations and Industries Private Limited, Director, MMTV Limited
Further Information
Headlines
Meta Data
Most ownership data is available on the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Government of India registry, Details about the Company’s history is available on the company website.A clear family tree, or how the shareholders are related to each other, however, is not available. Details about Corporate Governance is also not clearly apparent from their documents. The company was written to, through email on 18th March 2019 and courier on 22nd March 2019,, seeking information and verification of data. There has been no response from the Company.
