Dilip Shanghvi – Reshaping India’s Pharmaceutical Future

There is coming a long way from humble beginnings, and then there is the story of investor Dilip Shanghvi founder of Sun Pharmaceuticals. Ranked at number eight in India Today magazine’s 2017 list of the most powerful people in India, Shanghvi has used his investment prowess to build a billion dollar empire. Specializing in investments that see the purchase of failing companies and turning them into profitable ones, this investment powerhouse is truly ahead of the curve. Shanghvi has recently made moves into the renewable energy sector showing if anything a widening of an already diverse portfolio.

Early life

Shanghvi was born in the town of Amreli, a small town in Gujarat, India. Long before his first significant investment, he lived with his parents in Calcutta while attending school and college. He studied at J.J. Ajmera High School before graduating from Bhawanipur Education Society College. After showing an early interest in business, Shanghvi was awarded a Bachelor of Commerce degree from Calcutta University.

Brief History

After his studies Shanghvi took a job working at his father’s company which sold generic drugs on the wholesale market. Coming to understand the flow of the market and what would be needed to thrive in it, Shanghvi left his father’s company in order to start his own. He saw manufacturing as the way forward and so he founded Sun Pharmaceuticals in 1982.

Starting with a small capital and just one drug used in the psychiatric sector, Shanghvi would be acting CEO until stepping down in 2007. After appointing his successor and taking the position of Managing Director, Shanghvi led Sun Pharmaceuticals through a number of key investments that would see the company become the biggest Pharma company in India and indeed the 5th biggest in the world.

Geographically

Shanghvi’s business is predominantly based in India where he and his family reside in Mumbai. Last year he was appointed to the twenty one member board of The Reserve Bank Of India. His investment history shows a trend of purchasing debt ridden Pharma companies and turning them into profitable ventures once more. And though his collection of this type of company has seen Sun Pharma go from strength to strength, recent investments show an interest in new technologies. Namely the renewable energy and the payment banking sectors.

Remarkable Investments

Back in 1997 Sun Pharma began collecting companies that would later make a profit. The first purchase was of an American company called Caraco Pharma. This leap into the world market would be just the first as ten years later in 2007, Sun Pharma added the Israeli company Taro Pharmaceuticals to their collection. Some larger deals saw Sun Pharma pick up companies such as Ranbaxy, Dusa Pharma and Taro Pharma in quick succession leading to great success. Recently his investment firm Dilip Shanghvi Family & Associates was able to invest in the renewable energies company Suzlon. Purchasing a 23% share in the company, Shanghvi clearly has plans for the struggling company. His diversification does not end there as applications to run a payment bank have been filed and Shanghvi is showing a lot of interest in payment banking and the associated technologies.