Dilip Shanghvi: A look at the man behind the mega Sun Pharma-Ranbaxy deal

When a young 25-year old Dilip Shangvi founded SunPharmaceutical Industries Ltd by borrowing Rs 10,000 from his father, he didn’t know that one day, his company would become the fifth-largest generic drug maker in the world. On Monday, he managed to do just that when Sun Pharma acquired Ranbaxy from Japanese firmDaiichi Sankyo in a $4 million mega-deal.

In India, Sun also overtakes Laboratoriesto become the largest pharma firm.

According to the Forbes’ rich Indians list published last year, Shanghvi jumped to third place, helped by a 50 percent surge in his wealth to $13.9 billion; he also managed to push Wipro’sAzim Premji to fourth place.

[caption id=“attachment_76268” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Sun Pharma chief Dilip Shanghvi. Reuters[/caption]

57-year old Shangvi is known as the ‘risk-taker, a sharp analyser, and a shrewd businessman’ by his industry peers, notes this Business Line article. In addition, there’s little doubt that Shangvi understands the pharma industry as well as any research scientist.

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Sanghvi did his schooling from JJ Ajmera High School, Bhawanipur, Kolkata. He then completed his graduation from Calcutta University in Bachelor of Commerce.

A profile of Shangvi in Economic Times notes that the pharma tycoon not only reads pharma research papers voraciously but is also an ardent Harry Potter fan. He has reportedly read all the novels written by JK Rowling. Unlike many other garrulous businessmen, the modest and shy Shangvi hates travelling and networking and avoids the media quite frequently.

Industry experts swear by Shangvi’s midas’ touch. Analysts told Business Linethat whether it was Caraco in the US, which Sun bought when its sales were down, or Israeli drug-maker Taro, which faced discontent from minority shareholders, Shangvi has always been the one to turn companies around. Simply put, he’s a turnaround artiste. Indeed, Shanghvi’s employees call him India’s most aggressive promoter whose calm demeanour shadows his killer instincts, notes this ET article.

While Sun Pharma is based in India, most of its sales (around 70%) comes from the US. In US, Sun Pharma has the largest share of generic medicine sales among the other Indian generic medicine companies.

So will Shangvi be able to do what Daiichi couldn’t? Given his track record of making 17 acquisitions and integrating all of them successfully, the odds are definitely on his side.