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Kamil is the son of M K Hamied, who is the brother of Cipla’s non-executive chairman, Yusuf Hamied
In a surprise move, Kamil Hamied (photographed below), successor of the Hamied family in pharmaceutical major Cipla, has stepped down from the company to pursue personal interests.
Kamil’s elder sister, Samina Vaziralli, has taken on an expanded role leading global strategic alliances and building the consumer health business in India.
Kamil, 33, who was chief strategy officer of Cipla, was not on the board of the company but was groomed by family patriarch Yusuf Hamied as the next head.
However sources say Kamil was not interested in the day-to-day running of the company.
When contacted, a Cipla spokesperson said: “As part of his leadership development, Kamil Hamied, who had stepped out of the India parent and was working in our European subsidiary in London, has decided to take some time to broaden his leadership and business experience outside of Cipla to achieve his personal growth objectives.”
Kamil is the son of M K Hamied, who is the brother of Cipla’s non-executive chairman, Yusuf Hamied. Vaziralli, 37, was head of strategic projects till recently.
“Samina Vaziralli, who represents the next generation of the promoter family, continues to be a part of the core management team at Cipla and now takes on an expanded role, leading global strategic alliances and building our consumer health business in India,” a Cipla statement said.
The family owns 37 per cent stake in the company, which is valued at Rs 49,900 crore on the BSE, taking into account its Wednesday’s close of Rs 622 a share.
Recently, Cipla saw multiple exits.
This included Chief Financial Officer Rajesh Garg, legal head Murali Neelakantan, human resource head Navin Garg, head of technology Arun Gupta, and finance head B S Mani.
There are also rumours that Managing Director Subhanu Saxena, who joined the company in 2013 from Novartis, is planning to move out.
“There always has been and there remains an excellent collaborative relationship between promoters and management, which will enable us to deliver on our strategic aspirations of placing Cipla in its rightful place on the world stage, ensuring affordable access to all.
"Cipla has a professional management team in place, which is well-embedded across all functions and levels, and this team will continue to lead and drive Cipla,” a spokesperson said.
In May this year, the Hamieds announced the promoters were planning to sign an agreement that would vest the voting rights of the entire 37 per cent promoter stake in chairman emeritus Yusuf Hamied and, in his absence, in brother M K Hamied.
The agreement also said Kamil will have the voting rights in the company in the absence of both brothers. It’s not clear whether the agreement has been signed or not.
The family is also signing a pre-emptive rights agreement that would give rights to Yusuf Hamied or his representatives to buy out others, if need be.
The plan was activated in October last year when the Hamieds approached the market regulator, Sebi, seeking its informal guidance on the entire transaction process and exemption from making an open offer.
Sebi granted the exemption in February this year but made it public after the family sought time to keep the matter confidential for 90 days.
Interestingly, in February this year, Cyrus Poonawalla of Pune-based Serum Institute admitted to early merger talks with Cipla.
This was rejected by a promoter family member to this newspaper, saying both companies are too big for a merger.
GROWTH PILL
