Godrej split: Tanya Dubash to lead brand mgmt of Godrej Industries, Nyrika Holkar that of Godrej Enterprises

Tanya Dubash, executive director, Godrej Industries, will lead the brand management of Godrej Industries Group (GIG) that includes listed companies such as Godrej Industries, Godrej Consumer Products and Godrej Properties. Separately, Godrej Enterprises Group (GEG), comprising Godrej & Boyce and its affiliates, will be led by Nyrika Holkar, executive director.

The Godrej group has been formally split between two branches in an agreement signed late last month and both sides are restructuring its shareholdings in the conglomerate that makes everything from soaps to home appliances to homes. The split has two broad entities - Godrej Enterprises and Godrej Industries. Each group will independently manage the brand for their group and is free to rebrand at their discretion but there is no compulsion for either group to rebrand, officials close to the development said.

"For shared businesses where both groups are allowed to operate in the same space like medical services, hospitals, education and hospitality, each group will be required to use a differentiator 'GEG' and 'GIG'," said an official aware of the plans. The two separate Godrej entities are setting up new teams and chalking out a detailed plan on sharing the common mother brand Godrej, officials said.


After the formal business split, both the family groups have entered into a brand and non-compete agreement for delineation of the rights for adoption, use, ownership and registration of the Godrej brand and other non-compete agreements. Both entities - GIG and GEG - did not respond to ET's requests for a comment. The Godrej brand will continue to be shared and each Group will have trademark registrations in their respective classes to protect their current and future businesses.

For the businesses (existing and future) of each group, the respective group will have the exclusive right in perpetuity to use the Godrej brand to the exclusion of the other group. There is a non-compete contemplated with respect to registration and use of the brand by one Group in the businesses of the other Group.

"It is not complicated for Godrej as the management for both these groups were always separate and the areas of operations too were like chalk and cheese. So the split is largely ownership entangling and not really a management separation," said Santosh Desai, a social commentator and chief executive officer of Future Brands adding that brand split will be less messy at Godrej compared to other groups like Reliance in the past. "It is the same family splitting and five years is a long time to build a brand in case they want to compete in similar areas in the future."

Both parties have entered into the brand and non-compete agreement to ensure the existing businesses carried out by the family groups and businesses of strategic importance to them are protected and can be carried on smoothly and there is no confusion for consumers or vendors on the source of products and services. In addition, the agreement said the integrity of the 'Godrej' brand should be preserved while recognising that Godrej mark is a well-known mark and the trademark is equally owned and shared by both family groups.