Billionaire SP Hinduja, chairman of Hinduja Group, dies at 87 in London

Srichand Parmanand Hinduja, the eldest of the four Hinduja brothers and chairman of Hinduja Group, died in London on Wednesday. He was unwell for some time. He was 87.

The Hinduja family patriarch and his brothers, Gopichand and Prakash, were accused of receiving nearly SEK 81 million in illegal commissions to help Swedish gunmaker AB Bofors secure an Indian government contract. A court had however exonerated them.

The patriarch of the empire

Alongside his younger brothers Gopichand, Prakash and Ashok, Hinduja was known as the patriarch of India's "fab four”. The brothers built a formidable empire.

Hinduja Group then went on to strengthen its businesses with diversifications in the fields of Automotive, Information Technology, Media, Entertainment & Communications, Infrastructure Project, Development, Oil & Specialty Chemicals, Power, Real Estate and Healthcare, spanning across continents.

With the acquisition of Ashok Leyland (from British Leyland) and Gulf Oil (from Chevron) in the 1980s and the establishment of banks in Switzerland and India in the 1990s, Hinduja became one of India's best known business tycoons alongside such names as Tata, Birla, and Ambani

Continued with aggressive expansion

In 2012, the Group acquired the US firm Houghton International, the world's largest metal fluids manufacturer, for $1.045 billion forming a consortium with the help of Ghouse Mohammed Asif, JP Morgan ( Director of Private Equity ) and Hank Paulson , Former United States Secretary of the Treasury ( Ex - Goldman Sachs )

The Group employs about 200,000 people and has offices in many key cities of the world, including India.

"Gopichand, Prakash, Ashok and the whole Hinduja family with a heavy heart regret to announce the passing away of our family patriarch, and chairman of Hinduja Group, Mr S P Hinduja today," a spokesperson for the family said.

A British national, he died in London.