Kishore Biyani

2021-05-31T09:20:49Z

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{{short description|Indian businessman|bot=PearBOT 5}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2019}}
{{Use Indian English|date=May 2017}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Kishore Biyani
| image =
| caption =
| birth_place = [[Mumbai|Bombay]], Maharashtra, India
| birth_date =
| nationality = Indian
| residence =
| alma_mater = [[H.R. College]]
| occupation = CEO of [[future group]]
| notable_works =
| education =

| website = {{URL|kishorebiyani.com/}}
}}

'''Kishore Biyani''' is an Indian businessman who is the Founder & CEO of [[Future Group]], one of India's biggest brick-and-mortar retailers. He is also the founder of retail businesses such as [[Pantaloon Retail]] and [[Big Bazaar]].

According to ''[[Forbes]]'' magazine, he had a net worth of {{USD|1.78}} billion in 2019.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.forbes.com/profile/kishore-biyani/ |work=[[Forbes]]|title=#80 Kishore Biyani & family }}</ref>

== Early life ==
Kishore Biyani comes from a family that has been involved in business since the time of his grandfather, who opened a clothes shop in what was then called [[Mumbai|Bombay]] after moving there from the village of [[Nimbi Jodha]] in Rajasthan. Growing up in the [[Malabar Hill]] area of [[Mumbai]], Biyani attended the city's prestigious [[HR College|H.R. College]] but thought little of his studies, preferring instead to rely on a gut instinct and observation in business. He has said that "I spent the better part of the day outside college with friends, wandering around new places and understanding and interpreting the real world."<ref name="national">{{cite news |url=http://www.thenational.ae/business/the-making-of-indias-retail-king |first=Armina |last=Ligaya |work=The National |date=15 October 2009 |title=The making of India's retail King |accessdate=12 May 2017}}</ref>

== Retail career ==
=== Rise ===
Biyani began working in the family fabric-trading business, Bansi Silk Mills, but became frustrated with the conservative approach adopted there by his father, brothers and cousins. It was around this time, in November 1983, that he married Sangita Rathi and also made his first venture into business on his own account, commissioning the manufacture of some fashionable fabric for sale to garment manufacturers. He progressed to selling his own brand of clothing fabric and then to manufacturing trousers using it, which in turn led to the launch of his Manz Wear garment manufacturing business in 1987. The business, which supplied a few retail outlet, adopted the brand name of ''[[Pantaloons Fashion & Retail|Pantaloon]]'' and soon expanded into retail itself using a [[franchising|franchise]] model.<ref name="national"/>

In 1992, Biyani floated 60% of his business on the Indian stock market to raise funds for expansion, store improvements and marketing. He has admitted since that this expansion across the country created logistical problems for the company, especially with regard to managerial oversight of its franchisees. By 1994, the Pantaloon franchise was turning over 9 million [[rupee]]s but with a smaller profit margin. Biyani looked to converting [[Pantaloons Fashion & Retail|Pantaloon]] from being a franchise operation to a direct retailer using the [[department store]] model, initially renting and converting a {{convert|10000|sqft|sqm}} property in [[Kolkata]] for that purpose. This outlet, which was more than twice the size of any other store in the city, opened in August 1997.<ref name="national"/>

Known for a thrifty approach to running his businesses, with precepts such as modest corporate travel and hospitality arrangements,<ref name="rai"/> Biyani has acknowledged the role of luck in his business success at this time, which he says was the coincidence of his ambitious ideas and the growth of an Indian middle-class with disposable income to spend. His success continued with the opening of a series of stores under the ''[[Big Bazaar]]'' brand name from 2001. These stores were designed deliberately to appear somewhat chaotic, like the traditional [[bazaar]]s with which his customers were familiar. By 2009, and despite the worldwide [[economic downturn of 2008]], there were over 100 of these stores across the country, serving over two million customers each week, while [[Pantaloon Retail]] employed over 30,000 people and had over {{convert|12000000|sqft|sqm}} of retail space across 1000 stores in 71 cities. Turnover in 2008 was 47 billion rupees.<ref name="national"/>

Biyani, who has admitted to making "whimsical decisions", had ignored the prevailing opinion of modelling retail businesses on those in the West and had instead concentrated on concepts that were familiar to India. His method of communication with both the media and financiers had been perceived as poor, as were his staff recruitment choices. Considered at first to be an extravagant risk-taker lacking in worthy business connections, and shunned by his peers for all of these reasons, Biyani's success with Big Bazaar had turned him into a revered figure in the Indian retail sector and a magnet for media attention. He was running the largest retailer in the country and was named as retailer of the year by the [[National Retail Federation (India)|National Retail Federation]], which at one earlier point had refused even to admit him. He was, however, facing a threat from the much larger resources of conglomerates such as [[Aditya Birla Group]] and [[Reliance Industries]], both of whom had signalled an intention to move into the retail sector.<ref name="national"/><ref name="srivastava"/>

=== Decline ===
In addition to the threat posed by the conglomerates, the 2008 economic downturn affected Biyani's business and his methods. There were postponements in planned expansion and downsizing in some areas.<ref name="national"/> Unlike other Indian retail chains, such as [[Shoppers Stop]], that used a small amount of short-term borrowing and then financed growth through cash generated internally from sales, he had relied heavily on short-term borrowing for expansion and also diversification into numerous retail areas, including book-selling and salons. Pantaloons Retail had a [[debt-to-equity ratio]] of 3:1. Business journalist Samar Srivastava said of the collapse of [[Lehman Brothers]] in September 2008 that {{quote|The crisis that followed blew a hole in Future group's portfolio. Sales plunged; bankers who until then had queued up at his offices started to call in their loans; mutual funds that had invested in his companies buckled under redemption pressures and decided to get out; sources of foreign capital dried; his market capitalization plunged two-thirds in a matter of six months; and Biyani who had invested way ahead of the cash flows from his network found himself trapped.<ref name="srivastava">{{cite news |url=https://www.forbes.com/2010/09/14/forbes-india-kishore-biyani-pantaloon-retail-redo.html |work=Forbes |date=14 September 2010 |title=Pantaloon's Retail Redo |first=Samar |last=Srivastava}}</ref>}}

Biyani reacted to the crisis with measures such as a considerable reduction in the numbers of his mid-level management staff and a restructuring of his corporate interests. He appointed a cousin, [https://www.futureretail.in/about-us/leadership-team-retail.html Rakesh Biyani], more methodical and patient than himself, to take over his responsibility for the retail business and in particular to resolve issues with the poor [[supply chain]] and internal distribution logistics that had resulted from rapid expansion. He also [[rollover (finance)|rolled-over debt]], converting it into loans that would mature in three to five years' time, and pulled out of joint venture deals with companies such as [[Etam UK|Etam]]. In addition, he reduced the scope, concentrating on four retail formats — fashion, food, home, and general merchandise — rather than the 22 or more with which he had previously been involved.<ref name="srivastava"/> Despite his previous disparagement of the need for the professional advice of others, Biyani turned to [[McKinsey and Company]] for assistance and also divested control to senior staff who had been recruited from large businesses such as [[PepsiCo]]. Things appeared to be improving after the initial shockwave of 2008.<ref>{{cite news|last=Srivastava|first=Samar|title=A Person of the Year: Kishore Biyani|url=https://www.forbes.com/2011/01/10/forbes-india-person-of-year-future-group-kishore-biyani.html|work=Forbes|accessdate=12 May 2017}}</ref>

Nonetheless, by April 2012, Biyani's business empire, including the non-retail elements, was performing less than its competitors and there were concerns raised about its debt levels. He announced that there were plans for a further restructuring of parts of the business to enable it to become debt-free by March 2013.<ref name="kamath">{{cite web|last=Kamath|first=Raghavendra|url=http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/pantaloons-woes-high-debt-slow-sales/470436/|title=Pantaloon's woes: High debt, slow sales|work=Business Standard|date=7 April 2012 |accessdate=3 May 2012}}</ref> A controlling stake in [[Pantaloons Fashion & Retail|Pantaloon Retail]] was acquired by [[Aditya Birla Nuvo|Aditya Birla Nuovo Ltd]] in May 2012 in a complex deal involving a demerger of the business from the wider group, and there were subsequent further dilutions of Biyani's involvement in the business.<ref>{{cite news |work=The Financial Express |url=http://www.financialexpress.com/industry/kishore-biyani-looking-to-offload-stake-in-pantaloons/64045/ |title=Future Group's Kishore Biyani looking to offload stake in Pantaloons |first=Sharleen |last=D'Souza |date=16 April 2015 |accessdate=12 May 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |work=Business Today |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160819020253/http://www.businesstoday.in/magazine/features/future-group-aditya-birla-nuvo-deal/story/24720.html |archivedate=19 August 2016 |title=Friendly takeover |first=Suman |last=Layak |date=27 May 2012 |url=http://www.businesstoday.in/magazine/features/future-group-aditya-birla-nuvo-deal/story/24720.html}}</ref> In 2016, it was renamed as [[Aditya Birla Group|Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Ltd]].<ref>{{cite news |work=The Economic Times |url=http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/services/retail/pantaloons-changes-its-name-to-aditya-birla-fashion-and-retail/articleshow/50552231.cms |title=Pantaloons changes its name to Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail |date=12 January 2016 |accessdate=12 May 2017}}</ref>

== Other business interests ==
Through the [[Future Group|Future Group ]]— to which he has attracted talented senior employees from companies such as [[ICICI]] and [[Reliance Industries]]<ref>{{cite news |url=http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2010-08-16/news/27576927_1_vaidyanathan-future-group-kishore-biyani |work=The Economic Times |date=16 August 2010 |title=How Kishore Biyani hooks India Inc's top talent |first=Kala |last=Vijayraghavan |accessdate=12 May 2017}}</ref> – Biyani has taken an interest in business sectors such as insurance and the media.<ref name="national"/> He has had stakes in financial services, such as the [[Future Capital|Future Capital business]], and in agriculture through Future Agrovet, as well as the eZone electronics retailer.<ref name="kamath"/> The Big Bazaar and Food Bazaar brands, which have been targeted at cost-conscious consumers, were compared to [[Wal-mart]].<ref name="rai">{{cite news |date=22 January 2009 |first=Saritha |last=Rai |url=http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/india/090119/the-wal-mart-india |work=The Global Post |title=The Wal-Mart of India |accessdate=12 May 2017}}</ref>

Biyani has also had a foray into [[Bollywood]], underwriting the critically panned box-office failure ''[[Na Tum Jaano Na Hum]]'' and ''[[Chura Liyaa Hai Tumne|Chura Liya Hai Tumne]]'' that were released in 2002 and 2003 respectively.<ref name="national"/>

== Books ==
* With Dipayan Baishya, Biyani co-authored the book ''It happened in India: The Story of Pantaloons, Big Bazaar, Central and The Great Indian Consumer''. {{as of|2007}}, it was the best-selling business book ever published in India, with sales of over 100,000.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/india/article.cfm?articleid=4235|title=Retailer Kishore Biyani: 'We Believe in Destroying What We Have Created'|date=1 November 2007|publisher=Wharton Business School|accessdate=1 May 2017}}</ref>

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
*{{official website|https://kishorebiyani.com/}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Biyani, Kishore}}
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Businesspeople from Mumbai]]
[[Category:Year of birth missing (living people)]]
[[Category:Indian billionaires]]

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Kishore Biyani