GROUP RELATED NEWS
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Ashok Piramal group sets up think tank to guide cos
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The Ashok Piramal group is forming a group level think-tank
to formulate strategies and policies for all the individual
companies in the group, top executives said.
The group, which comprises Peninsula Land, Morarjee
Textiles and Piramyd Retail, will soon set up an Ashok
Piramal Management Corporation (APMC) to oversee all
strategies of the major companies.
The APMC will be quite similar to the Aditya Birla Management
Centre which was set up by Kumar Mangalam Birla for
his vast, far-flung empire straddling many industries
and countries.
Urvi Piramal, the group chairperson, will head this
group and her three sons, Harsh, Rajeev and Nandan Piramal,
will be members. Maneesh Gupta, group executive director,
Anil Noronha, group human resources director and V Hariharan,
group chief financial officer, will be other key members.
"All businesses of the Ashok Piramal group are in high-growth
areas. We have outlined strategic growth plans for all
companies. Currently, we are in the process of implementing
these plans," Mr Gupta told ET.
The three major group companies were earlier a part
of the diversified Nicholas Piramal group headed by
Ajay Piramal. The separation follows a family settlement
under which Urvi Piramal, the wife of late Ashok Piramal,
and her three sons were given independent charge of
textiles, real estate and the retail business.
Morarjee Textiles, the textile arm of Ashok Piramal
group, is planning to grow both through acquisitions
and by capacity additions. The firm is close to acquiring
apparel brands in the US and Italy for about Rs 80 crore.
The company is also developing its own brands and private
labels, which will be sold initially through Piramyd
Retail stores. The company's expansion plan, also includes
capacity additions in fabric business.
Last year, Morarjee had acquired 49% in Just Textiles
for Rs 8 crore. Morarjee Textile's growth plan is part
of an essential strategy to gain scale quickly in the
branded space, group officials said. Currently, about
three-fourth of the company's garments output and about
60% of its fabrics are exported.
Negotiations are on with two reputed international brands
in North America and Europe. We will buy some new brands
soon, said Mr Gupta. Of the Rs 40 crore being spent
on expansion, Rs 20 crore will be to expand garment-making
capacity from 4.5 lakh pieces per annum to 12 lakh pieces,
while Rs 10 crore will go towards expansion of cloth
printing facility from 11m metres per annum to 15m metres
per annum.
Peninsula Land Management, the real-estate arm of the
group, is planning to float Rs 1,000-crore real estate
fund to buy properties across India. "We have got a
Securities and Exchange Board of India clearance to
float a real estate fund.
We are in the process of mobilising fund for the proposed
funds, Mr Gupta said. This apart, the Peninsula Land
is also exploring options for a second IPO by offering
part of its equity to mobilise around Rs 500 crore from
the market. It could be a follow on IPO or a placement
with QIBs," Mr Gupta said.
The current set of top level management changes in the
group include the induction of Rajesh Jaggi as the managing
director of Morarjee Realties (now Peninsula Land Management)
and elevation of Bipin Gurnani as the CEO of Piramyd,
Megastore, the retail division of Piramyd.
The retail chain is also hiring a top level executive
from the Hindustan Lever (HLL) to head TruMart, the
Piramyd division for food, home and personal care. business.
PK Gothi had already been appointed as the managing
director of Morarjee Textile earlier.
Source: Economic Times, July 7, 2006
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