Goa’s Chowgule Group splits into two following a family settlement

The Chowgule Group, the 104-year-old Goa-based business conglomerate, has split into two following an “amicable” family settlement.

Padma V Chowgule, Chairperson and Managing Director of the legacy flagship company, Chowgule & Co, will get control of the mining, pellets, salt, ship-building and educational institutions of the Group, which has 14 business units.

Padma Chowgule, 65, is the youngest of founder Vishwasrao Chowgule’s five children.

Padma’s brother Vijay,75, will have control over the Group’s other businesses that include the ship repair yard at Lavgan in Maharasntra, Angre Port in Maharashtra, automobile dealerships, construction chemicals, port agency, warehousing, logistics, Kolhapur Oxygen, healthcare, explosives and ammunition.

The Group had a turnover of some Rs 2,500 crore in FY20, which has been equally divided between the two groups.

Revamping management strategies

A split has been in the offing ever since Padma took over as CMD from Vijay a couple of years ago, bringing with her new management strategies to modernise the group and professional managers to make the group future-focussed with aggressive growth targets.

It also coincided with the new generation of the family looking to lead the company with a track record of turning around businesses and achieving consistent growth and profitability in recent years.

The young generation includes Arjun Chowgule, the son of Padma’s brother Ashok Chowgule, Eshaan Lazarus, the son of Padma and Aditya Chowgule, the son of Jayawant Chowgule, who in turn is the son of Yashwantrao Chowgule, the brother of Group founder Vishwasrao.

This led to differences within the family, a person familiar with the split said.

“The amicable parting of ways was finalised by the family on Wednesday,” he added.

The next generation of the Chowgule family will continue to support Padma, a spokesman for the group-led by Padma Chowgule said.

Vijay Chowgule is backed by Ramesh Chowgule, son of Laxmanrao Chowgule, also a brother of Vishwasrao.

The restructuring of the company into two groups allows a diversified vision and approach, bringing focus to growth and expansion.

“All the businesses will focus on future readiness, striking a balance between expansion in existing businesses and developing new lines of business. The cornerstone of this vision will be the existing experienced talent base, along with infusion of new skills. As the Chowgule Group continues on its journey to secure a leadership position in the industry, across all the areas that it operates in, it will continue to unlock value for all its stakeholders, as it has done in the past,” the spokesman for the Padma Chowgule group said.

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