Cipla’s ‘heir apparent’ Kamil suddenly quits

Pharmaceuticals major Cipla Chairman Yusuf K Hamied’s nephew Kamil Hamied, who has been understood to be groomed to take over the reins of the drug maker, has quit and his sister Samina <g data-gr-id="47">Vaziralli</g> has assumed an expanded role in the company. “As part of his leadership development, Kamil Hamied, who had stepped out of the India parent and was working in our EU subsidiary in London, will take some time to broaden his leadership and business experience outside of Cipla to achieve his personal growth objectives,” a Cipla spokesperson said.

Kamil Hamied has been seen as third in line from the promoter family to lead the company. Family patriarch YK Hamied has been grooming Kamil and his elder sister Samina <g data-gr-id="24">Vaziralli</g> from the next generation of the promoter family for bigger roles in Cipla.

“Samina <g data-gr-id="45">Vaziralli</g>, 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,” the spokesperson said. Dispelling speculations that Kamil had quit the company due to differences with MD and Global CEO <g data-gr-id="46">Subhanu</g> Saxena, the spokesperson said: “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 for all.”

As per a ‘family agreement’, which was made public last month by SEBI, Kamil, son of Mustafa <g data-gr-id="27">Hamied</g>, would be deemed as representative of the existing main promoter Yusuf Hamied in the current scenario if neither of the two brothers is able to attend a shareholder meeting for any reason. Moreover, the promoter family had also proposed to vote together as a single unit under <g data-gr-id="34">overall</g> direction of patriarch Yusuf Hamied in his lifetime, and under his brother Mustafa <g data-gr-id="28">Hamied</g> thereafter.

After the demise of both the brothers, or both of them being incapacitated, the family would continue to act as a single unit under the ‘overall direction and supervision’ of a family member owning the highest number of shares. Currently, M K Hamied is non-executive Vice-Chairman and the operations of the company are run by a professional management team. As per the company’s annual report of 2013-14, Kamil Hamied’s annual remuneration was reduced to Rs 96 lakh in 2014 lakh from Rs 1.5 crore in 2013, while that of Samina <g data-gr-id="38">Vaziralli</g> was increased to Rs 90 lakh from Rs 69 lakh. 

Cipla, which is present in over 150 countries, sells more than 2,000 products across various therapeutic categories. The company has 34 manufacturing facilities that make active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) and formulations.