RJ Corp's succession plan finalised; Ravi Jaipuria's son gets food & beverages business, daughter gets healthcare & education

New Delhi: Ravi Jaipuria has formalised the succession plan at the $3-billion RJ Corp, with his son getting the food & beverages business, and his daughter taking charge on the healthcare and education side.

RJ Corp runs PepsiCo’s second-largest bottler outside the US, Varun Beverages (VBL), as well as Devyani International (DIL), which is the operator of KFC, Pizza Hut and Costa Coffee outlets in India. Both companies, named after the founder’s children, Varun and Devyani, are listed. The group is also involved in healthcare and education.

Varun, 36, has got VBL and DIL.


Sister Devyani, 39, has got the healthcare businesses, which include premium maternity hospital chain Cocoon and stem cell banking. She has also got Delhi Public Schools in Gurgaon and Jaipur, in addition to DPS International School in Gurgaon and Dharav High School in Jaipur. Devyani is married to entrepreneur Ambrish Jaipuria and has two children.

“Succession planning at RJ Corp has been established, including a road map for Varun and Devyani to take on strategic leadership roles,” Ravi Jaipuria told ET. Daily operations will continue to be run by professionals, he said.

VBL had a market cap of Rs 1.85 lakh crore at the end of Monday trade, with the Jaipurias and RJ Corp holding 62.91%. That’s about 10 times the Rs 19,649.4-crore market cap of of DIL, with the Jaipurias and RJ Corp holding 62.74%. VBL ended at Rs 1,431.05 on the BSE on Monday, up 2.5%. DIL rose 1.5% to Rs 162.95.

The founder will remain chairman of RJ Corp, and oversee overall growth, policies, expansion and diversification. “This framework is designed to ensure the company’s continuity and stability while infusing fresh perspectives into new leadership,” said Jaipuria, 70. The succession plan allows his children to focus on broader strategic initiatives and long-term vision, he said.

“Central to our strategy is the role played by our professional team, which manages the daily operational aspects,” he said. “This blend of professional management and strategic leadership is key to driving RJ Corp forward, ensuring agility and innovation remain at the core of our operations.”

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Varun Jaipuria started looking after VBL’s business activities following the superannuation of then chief executive Kapil Agarwal in 2022.

Varun has been involved with the business for over a decade, commencing with smaller geographies and roles. VBL bottles and distributes PepsiCo’s beverages — including Pepsi, 7UP, Mirinda and Mountain Dew fizzy drinks, Sting energy drink, Tropicana juice and Aquafina water — to 3.8 million outlets globally.

It has 45 manufacturing facilities and operates in nine countries. RJ Corp, which started its association with PepsiCo India over three decades ago, holds the franchise for South Africa, Morocco, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Nepal and Sri Lanka.

DIL’s businesses include operating the largest franchisee business of Kentucky-based Yum Brandsowned KFC and Pizza Hut in India, exclusive franchisee of UK coffee chain Costa Coffee, homegrown southern cuisine chain Vaango, and food courts in malls, airports, highways and hospitals under the brand name Food Street.

Set up in 1991, DIL operated over 1,735 restaurants as of December 31, 2023. Besides India, DIL has a presence in Nepal, Nigeria and Thailand.

The healthcare vertical includes Cryoviva Biotech Pvt, founded by RJ Corp in 2006, which provides umbilical cord blood stem cell collection, processing and storage. Cryoviva also operates in Thailand, Singapore, West Asia, Nepal, Vietnam and east Africa.

In December last year, RJ Corp announced two global deals. VBL acquired South Africa’s Beverage Co (BevCo) for `1,320 crore and DIL entered Thailand by acquiring 274 KFC outlets.