Veteran industrialist and patriarch of the Williamson Magor Group , Brij Mohan Khaitan, passed away at his residence in Kolkata on Saturday . He was 92.

Sources say he was suffering from old-age ailment.

Best known for his bold acquisitions, Khaitan had built the Williamson Magor Group from scratch. He was till recently the Chairman of Eveready Industries – one of the Group’s flagships and the country’s largest dry cell battery maker. He had recently stepped down from the post and was re-appointed as Chairman Emeritus.

Born in a family of lawyers (Khaitan & Co) and from a supplier of tea chest and fertiliser to the British planters, Khaitan made the tea industry “Indian-owned” in the twilight era of the independence.

McLeod Russel , one of the largest tea plantation companies globally, being the other flagship of the group. Khaitan had also stepped down from the board of McLeod Russel earlier this year.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee offered her condolences and tweeted: “Saddened at the passing away of noted industrialist BM Khaitan Ji. He was a much-respected elder statesman of the business community of Bengal. My condolences to his family, colleagues and friends.”

In December 2013, Khaitan was conferred the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Indian Chamber of Commerce.

In 1983, he almost lost his life in a blast in London. But, by then he had established his tea empire.

The Tea Empire

Incidentally, it was in 1961 that Williamson Magor’s flagship, Bishnauth Tea found its first takeover threat from a Marwari businessman called B Bajoria who had picked up 25 per cent stake. This was a mere one per cent short of the Williamson Magor Group’s controlling 26 per cent. It was then that Richar Magor of the group brought in BM Khaitan as its white knight. He rose to be its managing director in 1964. And, subsequently, became its Chairman.

In 1987, Khaitan acquired McLeod Russel India , bagging one of the most coveted deals of the time. The acquisition made Khaitan the “world’s largest tea producer” then. (With subsequent sale of tea gardens over the last few years, McLeod is amongst the largest tea producers now.) No wonder, he came to be known in global tea circles as the “evergreen tea man of India”.

Spate of Acquisitions

Author Gita Piramal in her book ‘Business Maharajas’ (1996, Penguin Books) has chronicled Khaitan’s rise over the years.

She wrote: “He (Khaitan) may not be a Dhirubhai Ambani, but then neither is he a Ratan Tata or Kumar Managalam Birla, both heirs to mammoth empires. In a span of two decades, BM aggressively assembled a Rs 16 billion empire…” Today the Williamson Magor Group is worth Rs 50 billion (Rs 5000 crore).

Piramal in her book further added that “apart from the Assam Company …. Khaitan hasn’t yet lost a deal for which he has hungered”.

Eveready – the big ticket acquisition

What brought him national limelight in a career filled with one big ticket acquisition after another, was the stiff take-over fight for Eveready Industries .

Famous for its red ‘Eveready’ batteries and ‘Gimme Red’ advertising campaign, Union Carbide India (as it was called then) came up for sale in February 1994. The American holding company had been looking to hive off the unit after the Bhopal Gas Tragedy of 1984. But, the Indian government had frozen ownership changes, till a compensation package was announced a decade later.

The final take-over battle saw BM Khaitan face-off with Nusli Wadia of Bombay Dyeing. A pitched battle followed, and in September 1994, Khaitan won the race with a bid of $ 96.5 million – which at that point of time was the biggest buy-out deal in Indian corporate history.

Today the Khaitan family is mulling a stake sale in Eveready to raise funds and pare group debt.

Related Topics
comment COMMENT NOW