- Sanjay Behl steps down from the CEO position of Raymond’s. He was taking care of the lifestyle business of the company.
If Raymond’s make a man complete then the man that completes Raymond’s is none other than Sanjay Behl. After taking the company to heights, the man finally decides to step down after 7 years of his journey with the company.
“The development is a natural transition as we are in the process of forming a new company that is focused on lifestyle business as part of the demerger process at Raymond Group. While we are in the process to appoint a new CEO, Sanjay Behl has agreed to help in the transition and a seamless handover.” – the company said in a statement.
The company is now in a process of completing formalities for listing the new lifestyle entity Raymond Lifestyle Ltd. The lifestyle business through a newly listed company will have the existing business of branded textiles, branded apparel, and garments.
“Raymond is managed by a strong team of professionals and we are confident of hiring the best-in-class CEO for the proposed listed entity as we embark on a new phase of transformation at Raymond Reimagined.” – commented by Chairman and Managing Director Gautam Hari Singhania.
A Short Intro About Sanjay Behl –
It was somewhere in 2013 when Singhania decided to step back and hand over the reins to someone professional. Sanjay Behl was (at that time) was an unusual choice as Raymond’s CEO. He was a veteran at Reliance Communications and Hindustan Unilever carrying little knowledge about the textile or fabric industry.
He was a renowned seller of Nokia phones and toothpaste, soaps at Hindustan Unilever. But amid all these limitations and ambiguity, Singhania had his bets on Sanjay Behl because he had a feeling that Sanjay understood the pulse of consumers.
With customer-centric companies like Hindustan Unilever and Reliance Communications, Singhania believed that Sanjay Behl could make a difference.
Sanjay Behl took the responsibility of Raymond’s when the company was struggling to create its identity while all the multinationals were giving the Indian company a tough competition.
Sanjay Behl as CEO took some crucial steps that later proved as a magic spell for the company. He divested non-core assets, restructured business units, changed one-third of the top management, he also said to cut jobs by 20% and closed down many non-operating stores.
Between 19th July 2012 – 19th July 2013, the day Sanjay Behl joined Raymond’s, its stock went down 38.2% losing INR 885 crores while the Sensex rose by 16.6%.
Over the dinner table, Singhania asked Sanjay Behl to revive the company by 2020. 3 years since Sanjay Behl took the responsibility of the company, the stocks doubled outpacing the Sensex rise of 34%. Revenue of Raymond’s has grown 37% and profit tripled.
Who Is Said To Arrive After Sanjay?
While it is still not disclosed who probably can be the next CEO of the company. But after this news. At 10:30 am the company’s stock was trading 4.37% lower at INR 421 apiece.
Summing Up:
Just like M.S Dhoni is said to revive the Indian cricket team and then moved on, in much the same way, from time to time corporate world also encounters people who nurture a company like their baby.
Under Sanjay Bhel’s tenure, Raymond saw growth, development and was able to capture the minds of Indian consumers making them the complete man!