Ajay Piramal, Shriram Capital name finance business CEO, scotch discontent rumours

CHENNAI: Billionaire Ajay Piramal is bringing in a new CEO for Shriram Capital, the holding company of Chennai-based Shriram group's financial services businesses, which has more than Rs 90,000 crore of assets under management. Piramal Enterprises CFO Rajesh Laddha will be taking charge at Shriram Capital, scotching rumours about discontent in its ties with the southern conglomerate.

Piramal Enterprises picked up stakes across Shriram group companies between 2013 and 2015, including a 20% buy in Shriram Capital, paving the way for Ajay Piramal to take over as its chairman in 2015. Since then, Piramal has been busy working out an aggressive growth plan for truck and MSME lending arms of the Shriram group. He had earlier appointed Ramky Subramanian as the CEO for the group. He also mandated McKinsey to undertake a study to revamp the group and sharpen its focus for aggressive growth.

Piramal effected top-level changes, which included replacing Umesh Revankar as the MD of Shriram Transport Finance with Jasmit Singh Gujral in June 2016. Some of these appointments didn't go down well with line managers, who had complained to group patriarch R Thyagara jan. Piramal immediately brought Revankar back to the top post in the truck lender.

“There were never any issues between Piramal and Shriram group. It is just that whenever you have people-related movements at the top, there is inertia to change. This led everyone to speculate that all was not well within,' a senior Shriram official told TOI.“But with this appointment of Laddha, that speculation should end as it has the blessings of the founder -Thyagarajan,“ the official said.

Thyagarajan said, “This appointment marks a new era in our growth as well as deepens our partnership with our long-term investors, including the Piramal group. Both Ajay Piramal and I are confident that Rajesh will lead the group to greater heights while keeping at the forefront the interests of all investors, partners and stakeholders.“