Eye on the Prize

By staying alert to investment opportunities and betting on long-term potential, ajay piramal has built a diversified empire of successful businesses.

- Salil Panchal

Ajay Piramal, chairman of the well-diversified, $3.2 billion Piramal Group, has been navigating the world of big business for over three decades now and, despite the length of his journey, he has managed to avoid any serious misstep. Reason: Even while taking decisions relating to investments, he has kept the values and the approach of trusteeship at the core—be it in financial services and health care under the holding and flagship company Piramal Enterprises Ltd (PEL), real estate development through Piramal Realty or philanthropic activity through the Piramal Foundation.

Of course, his biggest windfalls are the result of contrarian calls: For instance, entering the pharmaceuticals space in 1988 by acquiring Australian multinational Nicholas Laboratories when others stayed clear of the field. Then, selling Piramal Healthcare’s branded generic drugs business for $3.72 billion to Abbott Laboratories in 2010, when multinationals like Pfizer and GlaxoSmithKline Plc were eyeing a bigger share of the Indian market.

Piramal, thereafter, struck it big by investing in Vodafone, at a time when the telecom sector was plagued by intense competition and low tariffs. Flush with funds from the Abbott deal, PEL picked up a near 11 percent stake in Vodafone’s Indian arm for over Rs 5,800 crore and exited in 2014 with a roughly 52 percent gain.

He continues to eye growth opportunities in other sectors. PEL, which operates three main lines of businesses (financial services, health care and information management), is involved in wholesale lending to real estate projects across major cities, at a time when others have shied away due to a sluggish growth trajectory. Between May 2013 and June 2014, Piramal’s PEL picked up stakes in three companies of the Chennai-headquartered financial services conglomerate Shriram Group; he also became chairman of the group in 2015.