The Hindu Business Line : Jumbo reassures SWC staff over management change

SHAW Wallace & Co (SWC) employees received an internal circular alerting and assuring them about their future prospects in the event of a change in management, even as the company awaits the outcome of the sale process, which is in the final stages.

The country's second-largest spirits company, controlled by the Dubai-based Jumbo Group, has attracted bids from archrival UB Group, the leading domestic spirits entity and the world's fourth largest, the Ramesh Vangal-Newbridge combine and the UK-based Scotch major Whyte & Mackay. The Jumbo Group, managed by the estate of the late Manu Chhabria, is also considering the interest expressed by Ms Komal Chhabria Wazir, the second daughter of the Chhabria family, to acquire the business which she has been managing following the demise of her father in 2002.

An internal circular issued to the SWC employees by Mr Prakash Nanani, Chief Operating Officer of the Jumbo Group, has offered to protect their financial emoluments, on a cost-to-company basis, for varying periods of time, if it is acquired by a new management.

The move is aimed at protecting the morale of its executives and staff who have expressed anxiety about their careers. Jumbo has offered to protect the salaries of the SWC top management up to one year, while most of the lower-level management have been given a similar assurance for six months.

Sources said the move was to stem the exit of good managerial talent from the company. "We felt the anxiety of these people, and, in fact, we lost one or two from our senior management. One of the requests made by bidders such as Newbridge and Whyte & Mackay was to protect our human resources in the event of a long sell-out process," they added.

"The message is to keep them assured and get them focused on the work, especially at a time when our frontline brands have registered a 24-per cent growth, beating industry average, in the first nine months of the current financial year," they said.

Meanwhile, the sale process slipped into a limbo following the interest expressed by Ms Wazir to take over the business. This has drawn a sharp reaction from the UB Group, which is the highest bidder with a quoted value of Rs 1,200 crore, and it is likely to explore the option of an open offer for 25 per cent shares of SWC and may also mull initiating legal proceedings if Jumbo decides to strike a deal with the interested insider, the sources said.

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page