Meraj Manal, chairman of the Bangalore-based Rs 500 crore Himalaya Drug Co recently bought out all the other partners and made it a subsidiary of his Cayman Island based Himalaya Global Holdings (previously known as MMI Corporation). Ravi Prasad, president and CEO of the Indian company and S.K.Mitra, executive director, research and development, have also now become board member of HGH.

"Given that the group's overseas operations are growing rapidly over the past decade, we felt the need to provide strategic direction to the various international hubs, streamline decision-making and standardize processes globally," says Prasad. The new roles of executive directors for HGH will involve management of the company's business interests worldwide, he adds. "The directors will assist in the development of global strategies and in guiding the future of the company, overseeing both corporate and R & D functions, while working closely with the Chairman."

Meanwhile, with an eye towards increasing its acceptability with the consumers, the company's first step in India has been to restructure the pharmaceutical division, which accounts for 60 per cent of the company's revenues. This has now been carved into three new strategic business units and its team strength has increased from 600 to 1,000 people.

According to Philipe Haydon, chief operating officer, pharma division, the new business units have been formed with the aim of providing greater structure to the company's wide range of pharma products and for the equitable distribution of the marketing force. "This has been done because of the company's growing base and the changing market needs," explains Haydon. "The product portfolio with around 35 products was becoming too large to be managed by a single division."

It was also felt that this new structure will enable the company to give greater focus to brands like Cystone (for treating urinary tract infections) and Rumalaya forte (an anti inflammatory analgesic) and some others, which, the management feels, have the potential for great success like its liver formulation and flagship brand Liv.52, Haydon adds.

The three new divisions called Zenith, Zandra and Zindel will be segmented on the basis of the different types of products and the doctor segments that they address. For instance, Zenith will target ENT specialists and paediatricians, along with general physicians and surgeons, Zandra will target gynecologists, orthopedists and dermatologists. The Pure Herbs range and baby care products, which were earlier part of the personal care division, have now been brought under the pharma fold. They will come under the Zindel unit, which will target general physicians and paediatricians.

With this restructuring, Himalaya is looking at a 30 per cent annual growth in Zenith and Zandra and a 40 per cent growth in Zindel. Apart from its pharma business, the company's forays include personal care & consumer products and animal health products.