N Prasad

McDonald’s must be loving it. The king of burgers retained its crown for the third survey running. While McDonald’s has turned out to be a runaway winner in this category, the second spot has been much more keenly contested. Three pizza companies and a coffee chain have finished with fairly similar scores. However, their positions have churned significantly compared to the last rankings. Domino’s has bagged the second spot, displacing Pizza Hut, which has slipped to the fifth spot, and Pizza Corner has displaced Café Coffee Day for the third rank. This has not been a great year for the coffee companies as Barista has stayed flat on the fourth rung while Café Coffee Day has slipped to the sixth position.
Domino’s owes its climb up the respectability ladder to its innovations and brand building campaigns over the last couple of years. Being a mostly delivery-based pizza joint, it has converted its niche into an advantage. Its “30 minutes or free” offer got people hooked on to a game of call-and-clock that impressed customers either way — if their pizza was delivered within 30 minutes of ordering, it was a promise kept, and if not, they did not have to pay for it. The success of the campaign has big name competition stooping to rather tasteless attacks on this high-involvement, race-against-time campaign. Of course, there has been a downside to this rush — Domino’s pizza delivery boys have been found risking their bones as well as others’ in traffic to avoid paying for the free pizzas from their own pockets.

Domino’s India CEO, Ajay Kaul, sLast year, Sudhir Vaid, managing director, Concord Biotech, discovered a new facet of N. Prasad, chairman and founder of Matrix Laboratories. Prasad was Vaid’s new boss as Matrix had just acquired 51 per cent of Concord. Soon after the acquisition, Prasad visited Ahmedabad. As Vaid took Prasad around the city, Prasad started humming quietly and then launched into a few songs. “If you ever get to hear him sing, you will know that is really his talent,” says Vaid. But then, Prasad, 45, is a man of many talents.




He comes from a middle-class defence background with his education spread over Punjab, Hyderabad and New Delhi. “I was a very average student,” he reminisces. What he lacked in education, he made up with common sense and determination. And when he set his heart on something, he did it.

Over the last five years, Matrix has acquired and picked up equity in seven companies including Docpharma (Europe) and Mchem (China), and a joint venture with Aspen Labs (South Africa). In India, it started with a stake in Plant Organics and then Herren Drugs, Vera Labs, Vorin Lab, Fine Chemicals, Medicorp and Concord. Matrix ended 2006 with consolidated revenues of Rs 1,158.61 crore. To reach this far, it takes a company at least 15 years; Prasad has done it in five. Now, he wants Matrix to be among the top five Indian pharma companies.

Prasad is a good judge of people. He also identifies talent and brings out the best in them. His old-time employees rarely leave. If they do, in most instances they come back. People sometimes take advantage of him because of his empathy, feels C. Ramakrishna, CFO and head (corporate affairs), Matrix. He has been with Prasad since 2001 and is now a friend.

That is one facet, but Prasad has also never shied away from taking tough decisions. One instance was in July last year when he roped in Rajiv Malik, (CEO, Sandoz R&D) as CEO Of Matrix. Very few founders have handed over charge to a professional CEO at a young age. Getting Malik was also a coup since he was responsible for Sandoz’s global product flow, looked after eight development centres with around 1,000 scientists and had an annual budget of $250 million.

“When Malik was to join the company, Prasad moved people around to make place for him, keeping the best interests of the company in mind. It must not have been easy, since they had been with him (Prasad) for a long time. But he did it,” says Puneet Bhatia, managing director, Newbridge India, investor and board member. His only weakness is that he overlooks finer details, but that is offset by a strong team.


For a soft spoken person, Prasad has enormous strength of character. This was evident in his early entrepreneurial life. Many years ago, Prasad was with Vorin Labs as its general manager. Vorin had two promoters — an Indian businessman and a group of NRI investors. When Prasad found that the former was siphoning money out of Vorin, he allied with the NRIs and the promoter moved out. That was how he came to acquire shares in Vorin Labs. He also continued as its MD.

Under his leadership, Vorin not only turned around but also became a preferred supplier to Ranbaxy, so much so that Ranbaxy took a 38 per cent equity stake in the company.

In 2000, Prasad and another investor, N. Ravinder, bought Herren Drugs and Pharmaceuticals and merged it with Vorin. Ranbaxy increased its stake in the company to 51 per cent. Less then a year later, when it wanted to sell out, Prasad bought out Ranbaxy’s stake and in 2001 renamed it Matrix Labs.

Prasad credits a great deal to P.A. Kumaran, his mentor and general manger at Indian Molasses, which was his first workplace. Kumaran was responsible for moving Prasad — an analytical chemist at that time — to a sales job. It was a turning point for Prasad, who took on the challenge even though he was clueless about sales. “I closed my first sale after three months and distributed sweets in my offices,” says Prasad. It was while working here that Prasad decided to get an MBA from IMT Ghaziabad.

In 1989, he moved to Rhone Poulenc as head of sales in Hyderabad and then to Plant Organics — that was a leap of faith since the MNC was willing to move Prasad overseas. Kumaran advised Prasad that exposure to manufacturing was a must. It was a tough decision because joining a loss-making company meant that the first salary came three months later. “But I knew that this small company in crisis would offer a large opportunity,” recalls Prasad. Within a year the company turned around and the owner eventually sold it to NRI investors and partners who left Prasad at the helm of affairs as CEO of Vorin Labs (a subsidiary of Plant Organics).

Recalls Rajiv Malik, who was with Ranbaxy and also on the board of Vorin: “Prasad looked for opportunities at every turn. Even when he was an API (active pharmaceutical ingredient) supplier, he was setting his sights on the next step, that of supplying APIs to the regulated market.” Ranbaxy was doubtful since Matrix had no US FDA approved plant. But Prasad resurfaced within two months with Medicorp, which had a US FDA approved plant. “Move at lightning speed if there is an opportunity has been his credo,” says Malik.

“Prasad also has the ability to take people along,” says Bhatia. Even when there have been issues of pricing and acquiring new companies, he has managed to take his board along at every step. The top management teams of all the companies he has acquired have stayed back.

However, for Prasad, wealth is not what drives him. “What is important for him is that the wealth is well spread among his colleagues,” says Ramakrishna. He also believes that society has equal share in his success; so he has sold some of his personal holdings and put the money into a family trust that supports healthcare and education. He has also placed his personal shares in the Matrix Employee Welfare Association (MEWA) to support higher education of employees’ children. Prasad is secretive about his contribution, though: “It can hardly be charity if you want attention through it.”

Prasad and his wife Asha lead a simple life. His Mercedes Benz was a reluctant buy. Despite buying property for his colleagues in Banjara Hills, he continues to live in a modest house. “I want my children to enjoy life, play in the streets as I did and not forego these pleasures for a life of luxury,” he says. He attributes his success to the support of his wife, whom he calls his constant ray of optimism.

Prasad enjoys the simple things in life. Music and movies are his passion and he has invested in MAA TV, a TV channel. You see, the chairman also sings.