The 400-odd shares held by the TOI group, which they had purchased from the Nalapat family, were transferred to the name of M V Sreyas Kumar, son of Veerendrakumar, at the meeting of the board of directors of the Mathrubhumi Company here on September 29. Though there was no confirmation about the rates, sources said TOI was paid Rs 1.60 crore for the shares at the rate of Rs 40,000. TOI had purchased these shares over 10 years ago at the rate of Rs 12,500. ``This would put and end to the legal dispute as we expect the case now pending in the Supreme Court to be withdrawn soon,'' said Veerendrakumar, speaking to TheIndian Express from Chennai today, confirming the deal.

With the acquisition of 400 new shares, the Veerendrakumar family will have near-majority control over the company's affairs. According to sources, Veerendrakumar and his family members, including M J Vijayapadman, a member of the board of directors, will now have control of around 1,200 shares out of the total 2,600 active shares in the closely-held company.

The company, which was floated by a group of nationalist persons in the early 1920s, has around 3,100 shares. The second biggest block of shares is held by the KTC Group of Companies here who have around 900 shares under their belt. The rest is held by minor shareholders, including the Nalapat family which retains around 60 shares.

The 400 shares bought by The Times of India group in late 1987 had caused a serious ruckus as the Mathrubhumi Company refused to register the transfer and unleashed a campaign alleging that the north Indian media group was out to swallow the nationalistdaily in Malayalam. The HC had ruled against the share transfer which was challenged by the TOI group in the Supreme Court where it has been pending for some time.

The Mathrubhumi board has nine members, three from KTC group, two from the Veerendrakumar family and the rest representing smaller shareholders.The board members are Veerendrakumar, CMD, his cousin M J Vijayapadman, KTC senior partner P V Chandran, who is the managing editor, his brother P V Gangadharan, son P V Nidhish, and four others -- K Bhaskara Menon, Col Achuthan, Ravi Varma Raja and S Subramaniam.