Naik recalls thwarting takeover bids from Ambanis & Birlas

Naik, who joined L&T as a junior engineer in the mid-1960s and went on to become its chairman

A M Naik, the non-executive chairman of the country’s largest construction and engineering firm Larsen & Toubro (L&T), has recalled in his biography how he thwarted hostile takeover bids from the Ambanis and Birlas in early 2000s when the company had almost slipped from his hands.

Speaking at the launch of his biography titled The Nationalist, authored by columnist Minhaz Merchant, here on Saturday, Naik also reminisced about the historic three-phased demerger of L&T, which led to its emergence as a top player in engineering, manufacturing and projects segments.

Significantly, both Mukesh Ambani, chairman of Reliance Industries (RIL), and Kumar Mangalam Birla,