The Rs 6,400 crore RPG Enterprises, which has diversified interests ranging from power generation to commodities such as tea and carbon black, would seek to exit from sectors with low growth potential, group vice-chairman Sanjiv Goenka said.
Goenka said the group was consolidating businesses where it could grow. "Our focus is on restructuring to help us focus on companies which have the potential to grow, invest in firms which will bring more returns and get out of low-growth sectors," said Goenka.
However, Goenka did not name the companies to be hived off as the group would take some more time to arrive at a decision on its future structure. "The group has got out of 16 firms in the past two years and will hive off more in the near future," he said.
He said three areas of businesses, retailing, entertainment and software, would be the group's growth engines. "This does not mean that other companies will not grow. But I think, Zensar, Saregama, Music World, Food World, Cash & Carry and Hyper Market will grow faster than other firms," he added.
The company runs retail business through Music World, Food World, Cash & Carry and Hyper Market. Saregama India and Saregama Plc are the group's music companies. Zensar is the software firm.
The Goenkas have been re-inventing their business interests through generations. The family, which started with commodity businesses such as tea, jute and textiles in the early 1900's, subsequently diversified into chemicals making and marketing. Now the Goenka empire covers operations including power, tyre, retailing, music, pharmaceuticals, financial services, software, tea, carbon black and mobile phone services.
"The evolution from a particular business to another is only natural. One has to change with the times, in fact, not only change, but change fast. Sometimes, we get emotional while changing businesses. Luckily, my predecessors displayed great flexibility in adapting to changes," he explained.
Goenka is clearly very passionate about the music business. Reason is the dynamism involved in the business. "This is an area where something exciting is happening every day. And one has to be dynamic to grow in this business," he said.
The key to success, he added, in the retailing business was to "satisfy customers, with the biggest challenge being to train people to receive customers and satisfy them".