Nirma, From Detergents To Pharma – A Long Way (Image: Nirma.co.in)
Recently, a month back, there was news on Glenmark Life Sciences (GLS) being acquired by Nirma. The deal was that 75% stake of GLS would be divested by the company and shall be taken over by Nirma in a deal valued at Rs 5,651.5 crore. This deal made the Ahmedabad-based Nirma, the detergent-to-cement conglomerate, secure its biggest catch in the pharmaceutical sector, which came in trail of other small acquisitions. Thus, Nirma landed a strong presence in the pharmaceuticals sector.
Karsanbhai Patel, a science graduate with chemistry background and a chemist founded Nirma, the detergent brand which had a huge market space. The brand was named after his late daughter Nirupama. The brand had a huge presence with the jingle – ‘washing powder Nirma,’ tuned in everywhere, until the HUL Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) and other companies rallied up with competition. Back then Nirma had a market presence with 60 percent, until the detergent wars broke out. Nirma had a product range from salt to soaps and cosmetics. Gradually, Nirma faded into the background. Only that Nirma had not blown out.
As part of making detergents, Karsanbhai Patel had begun to produce caustic soda and soda ash. Nirma was in business with the FMCG goods, but later the company diversified. The production of soda ash could have led to this idea as the left-over products from soda ash production was good for cement production. Nirma, now concentrated on cements.
The year 2005 saw Nirma talking about cements in India but it took more time for it to get a foot hold. In 2016, Nirma bought India business of Lafarge which was one of the largest makers of cement in the world scene. The year 2020 saw Nirma acquiring Emami’s cement business and together with these two acquisitions, Nirma became the fifth largest in the business of cements makers of the country. Further, Nirma launched IPO and named this cement division as Nuvoco Vistas.
The small retailer who had made washing powder in his backyard in 1969 and had begun selling them on a door to door basis upon his bicycle has now become the largest cement producer of the country. The story did not stop here – with cements he was also diversifying into a different sector – pharma. In the year 2004, Nirma took a chance at a company called Core Healthcare and acquired it.
Doing business in pharma, Nirma realised the difference in the market sectors and the rules to play by, thus it came with a renamed division – Aculife Healthcare. Last year, news was about the bid to acquire Maneesh Pharmaceuticals and then, a buyout of Stericon Pharma. Now the entry into GLS’s stock hold has given Karsanbhai Patel’s Nirma a foot hold in Pharma. Thus, Nirma has come a long way from detergents to cements and now to Pharma sector.
Karsanbhai Patel’s business is managed by his family members – his daughter, two sons and his son-in-law takes care of the company. The Forbes has reported his assets at an estimated $ 2.8 billion.
(With inputs from the Economic Times, Financial Express and Finshots.in)
