Just weeks ago, a small group of Ranbaxy veterans found themselves reminiscing over their former company that had dared to dream of becoming a home-spun multinational.

“We were reminiscing with a heavy heart,” says Sanjiv Kaul, recalling memories shared by members of the legendary Ranbaxy team at that social gathering.

“When Mr Brar said, just as we speak, the curtains are coming down on Ranbaxy, it was emotional, there was pin-drop silence…,” says Kaul, who had worked with Ranbaxy visionary Parvinder Singh and his lieutenant DS Brar, in achieving those milestones. Saddened to see the name Ranbaxy get “extinguished”, its former chief executive Brar wistfully recollects a picture sent to him, of the name being removed from the research and development building. But, he adds, for the company and employees, “a new day shines” promising growth and prosperity.

The clock on Ranbaxy started ticking ever since Sun Pharmaceutical Industries made its $4-billion proposal to merge it, about a year ago. Closure of the deal about 10 days ago catapulted the Sun-Ranbaxy combine to the top of the pharmaceutical charts with a ₹25,000 crore-plus turnover, 45 manufacturing facilities, 30,000 employees and 3,000 products across 150 countries.

April will also see the end of trading on Ranbaxy shares, as it delists from the Indian stock exchanges, and the brand slowly ceases to exist.

Looking back reveals a valuable insight that businesses could do well not to ignore. “You cannot be complacent and take it for granted that what you are is what you will be,” says Kaul, Managing Director at ChrysCapital, a private equity firm.

“It was India’s first multinational and the largest pharmaceutical company at that time,” says Brar, adding that he was happy when it came back into the Indian fold (Sun Pharma).

In 2008, Ranbaxy promoter family’s Malvinder and Shivinder Singh sold their entire stake to Japanese drug maker Daiichi Sankyo.

Existing problems that Ranbaxy’s Paonta Sahib and Dewas plants faced with the US regulator later flared up into a full-fledged nightmare for its new owners, as unpleasant information emerged on data integrity and other violations of good manufacturing practices. Today, four Ranbaxy plants are banned from selling in the US.

Ranbaxy never really recovered from the regulatory shadow cast over it, and was already playing down its tainted brand name in the US, says a source.

In India, Ranbaxy’s brand name is on all products, while Sun does no such thing. The strategy post-merger is for Ranbaxy’s product packaging to adopt Sun’s understated style, the source added. Looking ahead, Brar says, it’s time to put the trouble of the past few years behind and keep the Indian flag flying high in the league of global pharma companies. After all, “the sun sets on the Ranbaxy brand as surely as another Sun(pharma) rises,” says Ramesh Adige, formerly Executive Director with Ranbaxy. Years ago, Kaul remembers asking Parvinder Singh if he was willing to merge with another large Indian drug company which had sent out feelers. “Over my dead body, was Dr Singh’s response,” recalls Kaul.

Three years later, Singh passed away (1999). “Possibly some karmic connection,” he says, as Ranbaxy promoters eventually sold-out in 2008. “The thought that comes to my mind, is that nothing is permanent. About 12 years ago, Ranbaxy was today’s Sun Pharma, nothing was unachievable, it had the largest market cap, turnover …13 years later, who would have thought there would be no Ranbaxy,” says Kaul. Nothing can be taken for granted and companies cannot be complacent. “Every day you need to revisit leadership to take the mission forward,” he says.

“We had wanted to create India’s first multinational. We were not the best of people or the best paid, but we worked with a passion,” says Kaul, and this story of starting a global Indian entity dates back to the 1980s, he reminds us, with pride.

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