Stories of transformation and growth have always been fascinating, a staple of B-School case studies. However, not all businesses are amenable to transformation. The syntax and approach of insolvency and restructuring varies in accordance with each situation.
This site showcases my columns and papers on restructuring, turnaround, and insolvency. In addition, you'll find some intriguing restructuring trivia under the 'Restructuring Trivia' tab. These stories, once etched in memory but now fading, exhibit the waves of Schumpeterian creative destruction.
Some businesses that were successful, or partially successful, in their transformation and restructuring journey include:
Orient Gas Company (now Greater Calcutta Gas Supply Corporation),
Standard Vacuum Oil Company (now Hindustan Petroleum Company Ltd),
Sylk’s Hotel (now Savoy, Ooty), and
Several banks managed to reinvent themselves through restructuring, amalgamations, mergers, or acquisitions, such as:
Allahabad Bank (now Indian Bank),
Bank of Bengal (now State Bank of India),
Bank of Bombay (now State Bank of India),
Eastern Bank (now Standard Chartered Bank),
Grindlays Bank (now Standard Chartered Bank),
Mercantile Bank of India (now Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi),
National Bank of India (now Standard Chartered Bank),
Nederlandsch-Indische Handelsbank (now ABN AMRO),
Ottoman Bank (now Garanti BBVA),
Standard Bank of South Africa, and
The Law Union Accident Insurance Company.
In some cases the successors to the erstwhile tycoons and business magnates stepped out of the hurly burly of business to set up investment management companies (now popularly called family offices):
David Sassoon & Co., and
Volkart Bros (offshoots of the empire survive in Voltas India, EDF & Man, and Paul Reinhart Ltd.)
Finally, some ventures struggled or failed in their restructuring journey or just faded into obscurity:
Agra and The United Service Bank,
Broach Industrial Cotton Spinning and Weaving Company,
Great Eastern Tobacco Company,
Port Canning Land Investment Reclamation and Dock Company,
Ralli Brothers (offshoot survives as Rallis India and parts of business got merged into Cargill Inc. and Dexia Group),
Scindia Steam Navigation Company,
Société the Credit Suisse (part of UBS),
The Great West Permanent Loan Company,
The Hotz Hotel (parts survive as Oberoi Hotels (EIH Ltd.) and Hotel Gables), , and
The above stories also reveal that whether one searches for excellence, builds to last, or strives to move from good to great, eventually everything regresses to the mean; some cease to exist, while others become a shadow of their former selves.
On a philosophical note, the Bhagavad Gita speaks of the impermanence of all material things, a lesson that finds quiet echoes in the rise and fall of stalwarts like David Sassoon, the Volkart Brothers, and Cowasjee Dinshawjee—figures whose legacies remind us how even great fortunes and enterprises are ultimately transient. For those interested in deeper insights, bankruptcy articles can provide further understanding of these complex themes.
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