The announcement of Dunlop Tyres reopening on the Durga Pooja of 2006 was a sigh of relief for the 4,000 workers who would get their jobs back. Ruia Group’s confident takeover of tyre companies Dunlop and Falcon was a news that generated quite a few headlines.
Dubbed as the ‘turnaround tycoon’, Pawan Kumar Ruia, started with Ruia Cotex, his first venture, a textile manufacturing company in 1995. Within two years, he set up Kamalpur Sugar Mill, and then thought to acquire companies. Thus started his love for acquisition.
What brought PK Ruia back in the news was the decision to take over the ailing Jessop in 2003. The PSU, Jessop and Company, was suffering losses, and the amount stood at around Rs 4crore per month. The heavy-engineering railway wagon manufacturer at that time had very few takers, and was being considered a dead case.
However, Pawan Ruia believed in the company’s capability and looked at the brighter side.He considered the availability of infrastructure, heavy-duty machinery and human resource as the biggest positive. An almost two-century-old company was brought back to life with meticulous management. Financial understanding and business skills gave Jessop a new direction.
After the complete overhaul of company, including HR, marketing, manufacturing, purchase and more, Ruia Group was finally able to break even with the costs and eventually, generate profit including paying dividend to its shareholders. The Government being the shareholder, got the dividend for the first time since its acquisition of Jessop in 1973.
After the successful conversion of Jessop, the most high-profile and sensitive takeover that was done by Ruia Group was the very famed Dunlop Tyres and Falcon Tyres. The time when Dunlop was annexed, it had practically closed its operations. One after the other, all the problems including legal, worker arrears, and more were resolved and the company was given a new outlook altogether.
Pawan Kumar Ruia believes that business acumen is what his forte is. He considers himself as a guy who would always be featured on Page 7, the business page and is a misfit for Page 3. With intense focus on changing how the current market is treading, he keeps himself busy with his passion for work.
Adding flare to how it’s done, Ruia is a man who has given the niche tyre and heavy industry market a new dimension altogether. His working style has given many sinking companies a new ray of hope.