If Cyrus Mistry, the next boss at Tata Sons, played a big role in the turnaround of Afcons Infrastructure, promoted by $2 billion Shapoorji Pallonji Group, and made it a Rs 1,000 crore plus company, his elder brother, 47-year old Shapoor Mistry did the same with Forbes & Co (earlier known as Forbes Gokak), another unit of the group.
Shapoor—who took over the SP Group weeks after brother Cyrus was named Ratan Tata’s successor (both the brothers managed the Group before this appointment)—not only oversaw the takeover of the loss making textile company from Tatas in 2001, but also bought in new management and restructured the business.
Forbes & Co’s revenues grew four-fold from Rs 336 crore in 2001 to Rs 1,462 crore last financial year. Profits shot up from Rs 7 crore to Rs 30.83 crore last year.
Though Shapoor, who joined the 147-year old group in 1988 as director, spearheaded the consumer businesses—such as water treatment, home cleaning, security systems, logistics, shipping among others, group's insiders say one of his biggest achievements was his group's foray into real estate in 1992. The group has developed over 13 million square feet of properties since then and another 50 million square feet of real estate under development.
Mumbai houses one of the most expensive real estate in the world and SP group developed properties in south Mumbai which is home to billionaires such as Tatas, Birlas, Ambanis and others. “The group got out of real estate in early 1970s because of cash and license issues. It was Shapoor who spearheaded the group’s re-entry into the business and made it one of the biggest realty developers,” said a senior executive of SP group.
Shapoor, a graduate in business studies and marketing from London, played a big role in developing The Imperial, the luxury residential tower in Mumbai, considered as one of the tallest residential buildings in the country. The project took almost ten years to complete due to delays in approvals and other issues.
The executive says Shapoor’s strength lies in his deal making abilities. “He can sense a deal when there is a deal.” His first deal was buying land for the SP Centre in Colaba where the group’s headquarters is located. “It was a bus repair depot and Shapoor worked on the deal himself. When we got the first lease rental, we got 20 times of our initial investment,” says the executive about his boss.
An avid race-goer, Shapoor loves horses to, say people close to him. He also loves to spend his weekends at the 200 acre Manjri Stud Farm, on the outskirts of Pune, tending to his stable of horses.