Vijaypat Singhania, the 59-year-old patriarch of the Rs 1,680 crore Raymond group, is exploring the possibility of dividing his group assets among his family members.
Under a plan being worked out by top-level executives of the Mumbai-based group, Vijaypat's two sons, Madhupati and Gautam Singhania are likely to get independent charge of different businesses.
The division would cover the entire group including international operations, which are now owned 100 per cent by Raymond Ltd, the group's flagship.
Group chairman Vijaypat Singhania will retain exclusive control of Raymond Ltd and the cement division. He will thus remain in charge of the most profitable unit of the group. Raymond Ltd has a woolens divisions, a files division, a files unit and cement and steel divisions.
In a response to a specific two-page questionnaire, Vijaypat Singhania denied any such plans. "At present I have no such plans to restructure the Raymond group," he said in a cryptic reply.
Sources close to the family maintain, however, that the plan is very much on. The plan is said to be in the initial stages and will take some time to be fully formulated.
Eldest son Madhupati Singhania (40) will be put in charge of all international divisions and will shift base to Singapore. The international divisions include J K (England) Ltd, The Raymond Woolen Mills (Kenya) Ltd, Jaykayorg AG. J K England and Jaykaorg are selling agents for Raymond Ltd and the Kenyan unit in Europe.
Gautam Singhania (32) will be given charge of Raymond Synthetics, Raymond Calitri Denim and J K Condoms Pvt Ltd, the joint venture with Pacific Dunlop of Australia.
The idea is to give his two sons independent charge of business. Currently, both sons are on the board of Raymond Ltd. Madhupati Singhania is the managing director of the synthetics business, Gautam Singhania is the joint managing director of the woolens division.
The Raymond group was till recently one of the most successful in the entire Singhania family. J K Synthetics, part of the Govind Hari Singhania family from Kanpur, UP is in the midst of a messy split. Some of its divisions are doing badly and the company has put them up for sale.
Hari Shankar Singhania's J K Corp is trying to wriggle out of the mess created by unrelated diversifications. It is looking for buyers for its polyester business and one of its cement plants. HSBC Investment Bank is working out a restructuring package for reviving the company.
Raymond is one of India's well-known brand names. But the company got into trouble two years back when it diversified into cement, steel and denim. The recession affected both cement and steel badly eroding profitability severely in 1996-97.
The denim business, a joint venture between Raymond and Calitri of Italy was jolted by the Italian company's sudden decision last year to scrap its 75 per cent buy back agreement. This has stranded Raymond as it has to now look for a market for 10 million metres of expensive ring denim.
