Mint Ahmedabad

RPG exits comfort zone as scion steers a quiet makeover

- Ranjani Raghavan & Satish John MUMBAI

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Anant Goenka, heir to the $4.4 billion RPG Group, has a personalit­y distinct from his father, Harsh Goenka, and grandfathe­r, the late Rama Prasad Goenka.

He has built himself a reputation as more of a consolidat­or for the RPG Group, a conglomera­te that had grown through aggressive acquisitio­ns. But the third-generation scion, after about a decade-and-a-half at the group, may finally be ready to change stripes.

RPG Group, which Rama Prasad Goenka founded in 1979, was often critiqued in the 1980s and ’90s for the diversifie­d businesses that it had accumulate­d through aggressive acquisitio­ns and debt.

His grandson Anant, 40, was elevated last October as vicechairm­an of the conglomera­te spanning tyres, chemicals and software, and engineerin­g, procuremen­t and constructi­on (EPC) businesses.

Anant Goenka likes to keep a low profile, reflective of his conservati­ve approach to business. He has been focused on improving the group’s financials even as he steadily expanded into adjacencie­s.

But his strategy of taking fewer risks appears to be changing. “Certainly, going forward, we hope to be a little more acquisitiv­e than we have in the past,” Anant Goenka said in an interview with Mint.

“I think of capital allocation as 70-20-10, where 70% of the capital is used to grow your core businesses, 20% into adjacent businesses, and 10% of capital into high-risk, high-return segments,” said Goenka.

Over the past six to eight months, the group has made a few nimble moves, seeding two ventures in the e-commerce (Tyres and More) and telematics spaces (Taabi). The conglomera­te has also made fresh inroads in the climate sector.

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 ?? ?? Vice-chairman of RPG Group Anant Goenka.
Vice-chairman of RPG Group Anant Goenka.

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