What Lies Ahead For Shapoorji Pallonji Group Worth $30 Billion After Scion Cyrus Mistry's Death

Shapoorji Pallonji & Co is the oldest domestic construction engineering company in India. Cyrus Mistry's death is a double loss that comes on the heels of the group patriarch's death in late June.

Industrialist Cyrus Mistry was the youngest scion of the 157-year-old multi-billion dollar Shapoorji Pallonji Group.

Source : PTI

New Delhi: The untimely death of industrialist Cyrus Mistry, who was the youngest scion of the 157-year-old multi-billion dollar Shapoorji Pallonji Group, is seen as a huge loss for the group after it lost its patriarch in late June. Mistry, was the sixth and youngest, at the age of 44 to become the Chairman of Tata Sons. He died in a car accident in Palghar while travelling from Ahmedabad to Mumbai on Sunday.

The Mistrys were engaged in a bitter corporate bottle with the Tata Group after Cyrus Mistry was fired from the group as the chairman in a board coup in October 2016. The group also owns 18.6 per cent of the $130-billion Tata Group.  

A Look At Shapoorji Pallonji Group Empire

The diversified group, worth nearly $30 billion, was founded by the late senior Pallonji Mistry (great grandfather of Cyrus) in 1865 as Littlewood Pallonji & Co. Pallonji Mistry, popularly known as 'the Phantom of Bombay House' passed away on June 28, 2022, at the age of 93. SP Group has a net worth of about $30 billion in 2022 based on the Bloomberg billionaires index.

The SP Group has a diverse business ranging from engineering & construction under its flagship Afcons, real estate, consumer goods and solar power. It has exited the last two businesses recently as part of deleveraging. There are more than 50,000 people employed in more than 50 countries today.

Shapoorji Pallonji & Co is the oldest domestic construction engineering company in the country. Known for its engineering prowess, the company's first project was building pavement on the Girgaum Chowpatty in south Mumbai followed by a reservoir on Malabar Hill supplying water to the megapolis since then.

The SP group's engineering empire has built lavish hotels, stadia, palaces, and factories across Asia. Some of the iconic buildings made over the decades include the Reserve Bank of India headquarters, the BSE Towers, the Oberoi hotel in Mumbai, and the blue-and-gold Al Alam palace for the Sultan of Oman. The Statue of Belief--of lord Shiva in Nathdwara in Rajasthan, is amongst the largest statue of Shiva in the world and the fourth-largest statue in the world), the Jumeirah Lake Towers in Dubai and Ebene Cyber City in Mauritius are some more jewels in its crown.

Engineering landmarks in recent years:

The Chenab Railway Bridge.

Atal Tunnel.

Dhaka-Chittagong railway corridor.

The first Kolkata metro.

The company also constructed the Brabourne stadium in Mumbai, the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi and the Mumbai Central Railway station in just 21 months. In 2010, the company constructed the tallest building of the country, The Imperial, a residential tower in Mumbai, reported news agency PTI.

Who Is Holding The Reins Of The SP Group?

Cyrus, 54, who was killed in a road accident after his car lost control on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad highway, was the youngest son of Pallonji Mistry.  Mistry is survived by his wife Rohiqua and two sons, Firoz and Zahan.

Since his appointment in the Tata Group in December 2012, Cyrus was not involved in the operations of the family business as he withdrew completely from the family business "to ensure that there is no conflict of interest with the Tata group. His family companies were also not allowed to enter into any business with any Tata entities unless through open competitive budding".

The business of SP Group was entrusted to his elder brother Shapoor Mistry.

Since 2012, when the late Pallonji Mistry announced retirement, the group has remained under the control of his eldest son and Cyrus's elder brother Shapoor Pallonji Mistry.

In late 2019, the group introduced several changes in the management, with Shapoor's son Pallon, 26, being inducted into the board of the group holding company, while daughter Tanya was handling the group's corporate social responsibility activities.

The new generation was tasked to help the group companies with digitalisation and ensure proper communication with its shareholders. Pallon is now part of the apex panel that takes long-term, strategic and impactful decisions.

SP Group Exiting Businesses

The SP group also exited from consumer durables business Eureka Forbes, known for its vacuum cleaners and water purifiers. It sold the remaining 8.7 per cent stake to Lunolux, a firm backed by private equity firm Advent International in September 2021 for Rs4,400 crore.

Later it sold its majority stake in Sterling & Wilson Solar Power to a Reliance Industries entity in October 2021.

(With inputs from PTI)