Indian pharmaceutical billionaire Dilip Shanghvi has ended a formal shareholder pact with Suzlon, the wind power group he helped back through several tough financial times since 2015.
Shanghvi – managing director of Sun Pharma and of one of India’s richest people – said the termination of his family business empire’s formal shareholder agreement came after an eight-year “fruitful association with Suzlon and the Tanti family”, as he praised Suzlon founder Tusli Tanti, who died last year.
Shanghvi did not give a reason for the termination but said “we will continue as investors in the company”.
“We support the management’s plan to aggressively grow the business as well as their efforts towards regaining market share. The company has seen a turnaround under a challenging environment, which is a positive sign.”
Suzlon, which has been attempting to rebuild its share of the ultra-competitive Indian wind market, said there “would be no impact on the operations of the company” from the ending of the formal agreement.
Shanghvi first helped Suzlon stay the course in 2015 when Dilip Shanghvi Family & Associates paid $289m for a 23% stake in the wind OEM, which at that stage was struggling to service its debts.
The billionaire’s company again reached agreement to help Suzlon restructure its debts in 2020.
News of the termination came as Indian ratings agency CRISIL boosted Suzlon by two notches to BBB+ with a positive outlook.
The ratings group said the move reflects Suzlon’s “strengthened financial position, operational excellence and favourable sectoral tailwinds”.
Suzlon finance chief Himanshu Mody claimed: “By successfully repaying our term debt and improving our financial flexibility, we are better positioned to seize opportunities within the renewable energy sector and continue our growth journey."
