Piramal Group

The Piramal Group is a diversified global business conglomerate, which has presence across various sectors such as healthcare, life sciences, drug discovery, healthcare information management, specialty glass packaging, financial services and real estate. Ajay Piramal is the chairman of the Piramal Group.

History

In the early 1980s, Ajay Piramal took over the reins of the Piramal Group. In 1984, the group acquired Gujarat Glass Limited, a manufacturer of glass packaging for pharmaceutical and cosmetic products, followed by Ceylon Glass in 1999. In 1988, the group bought Nicholas Laboratories, the company which later flourished and by 2010 reached the highest valuation in the pharmaceutical industry. Over the decade, the company acquired many business units to strengthen their presence. In 2006, the company bought Pfizer’s UK manufacturing facility, Morpeth.^[1][2] The company also formed Piramal foundation, a philanthropic arm of the group.

In the year 1999 Piramal Glass acquired Ceylon Company Ltd, Sri Lanka. The year 2006 saw Piramal Healthcare being listed as a global leader by S&P Global Challengers. Piramal also acquired Pfizer's Morpeth UK facility.

In 2007, it underwent a deal with Merck for development and discovery of new drugs.^[3][4] In 2008, it signed second drug development deal with Eli Lilly.^[5][6] The company Nicholas Laboratories was renamed to Piramal Healthcare Ltd. In 2010, the domestic formulations business was sold to Abbott.^[7] It was considered to the most expensive deal.^[8] In the same year, the group formed its own real estate entity, Piramal Realty.

2011 saw Fortune 500 ranking Piramal Healthcare in the top-50 largest corporations across India. Also, UN Conference on Trade and Development’s World Investment Report 2011 ranked Piramal Healthcare as No. 5 in the top 10 pharmaceutical contract manufacturers worldwide. In 2011-12, Piramal bought 11% in Vodafone Essar.^[9] In 2014, it sold its 11% Stake in Vodafone India to Prime Metals, an indirect subsidiary of Vodafone Group.^[10] In 2012, Piramal Healthcare was renamed to Piramal Enterprises Ltd. BST-CarGel, Piramal's innovative bio-orthopaedic product for cartilage repair, received European CE mark approval. Piramal's Decision Resources Group acquired Abacus International, a UK based global market access solutions company for many of the world’s leading healthcare companies.

Piramal's heritage brand 'Saridon' won prestigious emvie award.^[11]

Piramal Enterprises Ltd. was awarded the Emerging Medical Equipment Company of the Year Award by Frost & Sullivan, in the 5th Annual India Healthcare Excellence Awards-2013.^[12]

Piramal Enterprises acquired the brand Caladryl in India. Caladryl is an anti-pruritic solution known for dermatosis application for minor skin irritations and itching. This acquisition enabled Piramal Enterprises to widen its consumer products portfolio in the skin care segment.^[13]

Piramal Imaging entered into a Strategic Partnership and Exclusive Licensing Agreement with Ci-Co Healthcare for Commercialization of florbetaben F18.^[14]

European Union’s CHMP recommends EU approval of Piramal Imaging’s radiopharmaceutical NeuraCeq (florbetaben 18F).^[15]

Ajay Piramal, along with Swati Piramal have been nominated for the Forbes Philanthropy Awards 2013 in the Outstanding Philanthropist category.^[16]

Company Profile

The Piramal Group comprises 4 key companies: Piramal Enterprises Ltd, Piramal Glass, Piramal Realty and Piramal Foundation.

Piramal Enterprises

Piramal Enterprises Ltd, (PEL) formerly known as Piramal Healthcare Ltd, is the largest company of Piramal Group, and is active in business verticals including Healthcare, Life sciences, Information management, and financial services. Piramal Enterprises is listed at both Bombay Stock Exchange and National Stock Exchange. Fortune 500 ranked Piramal Healthcare in the top-50 largest corporations across India. The UN Conference on Trade and Development’s World Investment Report 2011 ranked the group among the top 5 pharmaceutical contract manufacturers in the world.^[17]

Piramal Glass

Piramal Glass is a manufacturer of glass packaging for the pharmaceuticals, foods & beverages (F&B) and cosmetics & perfumery (C&P) industries, services, listed at both Bombay Stock Exchange and National Stock Exchange. Piramal Glass has manufacturing plants in USA, Sri Lanka and India.^[18][19]

Piramal Realty

Piramal Realty is a fully owned real estate venture of Piramal Group. The company is planning to develop about 30 million square feet through land acquisitions from its own sources. The group developed India’s first mall, Cross Roads,^[20] at South Mumbai.

Piramal Foundation

The Piramal Foundation is a private philanthropic foundation established in 2006. Piramal Foundation has undertaken projects like Piramal Swasthya^[21] (a health information help line service called Arogya Vani in the state of Karnataka), Sarvajal ^[22] (provides clean water in India through solar powered water ATMs), source for change ^[23] (rural BPO for rural youth in Bagar, Rajasthan), Pratham ^[24] (delivers education to under privileged children), Piramal foundation for education leadership (Piramal Fellowship and Principal Leadership Development program (PLDP) are the two programs undertaken) and Piramal Prize ^[25] (recognizes emerging ventures and established organizations).

References