{"id":57346,"date":"2024-05-23T17:23:31","date_gmt":"2024-05-23T17:23:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/05\/23\/lava-inducts-new-directors-as-co-founder-rai-moves-out-looks-at-pe-raise-of-rs-600-cr-times-of-india\/"},"modified":"2024-05-23T17:23:31","modified_gmt":"2024-05-23T17:23:31","slug":"lava-inducts-new-directors-as-co-founder-rai-moves-out-looks-at-pe-raise-of-rs-600-cr-times-of-india","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/05\/23\/lava-inducts-new-directors-as-co-founder-rai-moves-out-looks-at-pe-raise-of-rs-600-cr-times-of-india\/","title":{"rendered":"Lava inducts new directors as co-founder Rai moves out; looks at PE raise of Rs 600 cr – Times of India"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Lava<\/div>\n
NEW DELHI: The Country\u2019s sole surviving mobile phone brand Lava has recast its board, inducting former BSNL chairman Anupam Srivastava and former Lt. Gov of Andaman & Nicobar Islands Lt Gen, Ajay Kumar Singh (Retd.) as independent directors while moving out co-founder Hari Om Rai. The company is also looking to tap private equity players to raise about Rs 600 crore for launching new 5G smartphones.
Lava, that saw a business turmoil following the arrest of Rai in a case involving Enforcement Directorate, plans to bring in new smartphones after witnessing healthy adoption of its 5G devices (Agni and Blaze are flagship models) where sales grew 250% last fiscal on sale of 1.5 million units. \u201cWhile feature phones have been the mainstay for us in terms of volumes, we have seen encouraging adoption of our smartphones and thus want to expand in this segment,\u201d Sunil Raina, the long-standing company official who has also been inducted on the board as Executive Director, told TOI here.
Raina said that Lava \u2014 which also enjoys benefits under Govt\u2019s production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for smartphones \u2014 has a strong manufacturing capacity of 42 million units, which it can now use to expand business and getting new devices.
But fund-raise will be critical for the company (which had revenues of around Rs 2,800 crore last year) as it will have to battle it out with the Chinese brands such as Vivo, Oppo, Xiaomi, and RealMe in the market. \u201cWe are looking at all options, and also talking to private equity players. Talks are currently on and we are confident of getting success here soon.\u201d
Lava has also inducted long-time production hand, Sanjeev Agarwal, on the board, and hopes that a revamped leadership will help investors look at the brand favourably. \u201cWe are confident of striking it big in volumes in the market. We are looking at unique initiatives, that includes a concept of providing \u2018service at home\u2019 which is offered by none of the brands. Also, design is a huge focus in our smartphone strategy, and so is the promise of a clean Android operating system without much clutter from unwanted apps.\u201d
He said that the company also wants to expand overseas with its smartphones. \u201cWe want to build a global brand, with a strong focus on corporate governance led by a credible board,\u201d Raina said.<\/div>\n