Newsmaker: Kolkata's Big Brother Sanjiv Goenka back at the IPL crease

Sanjiv Goenka has a knack for grabbing eyeballs. That he wanted to make a comeback to the glamorous world of the Indian Premier League (IPL) after a short stint of ownership with the Rising Pune Supergiants in 2016 and 2017 has been known for some time. But a jaw-dropping Rs 7,090 crore bid for the Lucknow team — 37 per cent higher than the next bid — has left many rubbing their eyes in disbelief.

The payment, however, will be staggered over 10 years. And from what Goenka has been painstakingly explaining across media platforms over the last few days, it appears that the outgo is likely to be capped at a maximum of Rs 300 crore a year (the franchise expects to receive around Rs 400 crore from various BCCI rights). The outflow might even come down after the first six years depending on media rights.

The investment will be bankrolled by unlisted and private entities backed by the personal wealth of Sanjiv Goenka and partly by listed company RPSG Ventures, a holding company for new businesses (the Pune franchise was owned by New Rising, a subsidiary of power company CESC).

“It’s not a big deal,” say those who know him and point to the size of the group to underscore the point.

As on March 31, 2021, the RP-Sanjiv Goenka group had revenues of Rs 26,634 crore, EBIDTA of Rs 5,382 crore and gross assets of Rs 47,400 crore (according to the website).

The genesis of the RP-Sanjiv Goenka group lies in a family settlement that formalised a division of assets between brothers Harsh and Sanjiv Goenka in 2010. The blueprint — drawn up by father Rama Prasad Goenka a few years before he died — is often considered to be one of the most amicable settlements in India Inc.

Post-settlement, Harsh Goenka continued to lead his group of companies under the aegis of RPG Enterprises while a new entity for the Sanjiv Goenka-controlled companies emerged on July 13, 2011.

The legacy businesses of the RPSG group had included power generation and the distribution company, CESC, carbon black company Phillips Carbon Black, retail under Spencer’s, and entertainment firm Saregama. The assets of plantation company Harrisons Malayalam were vertically split and put under two separate managements.

But Goenka — who was the youngest national president of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in 2001 — is hardly one to be confined by a limited presence.

So, the decade since the partition of family business has been about adding new-age businesses that put him in the national spotlight — like business process outsourcing with the acquisition of Firstsource, sports through Atlético de Kolkata (now ATK Mohun Bagan after acquiring a majority stake in the iconic football club) in the Indian Super League, fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) business, and the additions of Fortune India and digital news player editorji to the media repertoire.

In 2013, Goenka made a debut in luxury retail with the Quest Mall in Kolkata where tenants like Burberry, Canali, Jimmy Choo and Gucci rub shoulders.

The tryst with the family business started when Goenka was in his 20s. But the four decades that followed were marked by some contrarian bets, turnaround stories and bold decisions. At 29, he was the architect of the CESC acquisition. But to get Rama Prasad Goenka — one of the country’s earliest takeover tycoons — on board, it took some convincing.

The hesitancy — according to an article once penned by Sanjiv Goenka for a magazine — stemmed from the fact that CESC had given Kolkata the “City of Load Shedding” tag. But that’s a thing of the past today.

It is believed, when CESC was being acquired in the late 1980s, then Chief Minister Jyoti Basu wasn’t particularly enthusiastic about it. But Basu gave his approval after a meeting with Rama Prasad Goenka.

Perhaps, the skill of managing equations across the political fault line is something that Sanjiv Goenka acquired from his father.

Once identified as a favourite of Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, Goenka made a smooth transition to the Mamata Banerjee regime. Equally deftly he has straddled the line between Banerjee and the saffron power at the Centre.

“That’s what makes him a power figure,” said a person close to him. And possibly the reason he is Big Brother to many in the business community of Kolkata.

Incidentally, Goenka made an entry into the India Today list of 50 Power People in 2016, on two counts: it was the year of turnaround for the retail business (Spencer’s) and expansion for power utility CESC. The more interesting part, however, was that he was said to be the bridge between the government in Delhi and Chief Minister Banerjee.

But much water has flowed under the Howrah Bridge since.