Persistent Systems grew from $500M to $1.7B under an outsider CEO's digital bet
Sandeep Kalra took mid-tier Persistent Systems from about $500M to $1.7B in revenue, crossing the $1-billion mark in FY23 with 35% growth.
Read the casechange.archiA CASESTUDIES.CHAT ARCHIVE
A different move.
A different outcome.
Pivots, reinventions and changes that made a meaningful difference.
The full archive, in the appPublished cases
2,000 PUBLISHED CASES · REGULARLY UPDATEDOlam faced down Muddy Waters in 2012, took Temasek's hand, and lived to split itself up
Attacked by short-seller Muddy Waters in 2012, commodity trader Olam cut debt, leaned on Temasek, and survived to break itself into three.
Read the caseNikon shrank 20% of its workforce in 2020, bet on premium mirrorless, and doubled profit
Crushed by smartphones and COVID, Nikon cut over 2,000 jobs and abandoned entry-level cameras for pro mirrorless — then posted record margins.
Read the caseNew World Development broke a Hong Kong taboo: heir out, non-family CEO in
Under HK$88B of debt pressure, the Cheng family pulled third-generation heir Adrian Cheng and hired outsiders to run New World for the first time.
Read the caseBlackstone bought control of Mphasis at Rs 430 a share, then rolled it at Rs 1,452
Blackstone's 2016 control buy of HP's Mphasis stake — a rarity in Indian PE — tripled in per-share value by its 2021 $2.8B fund rollover.
Read the caseFoxconn let founder Gou walk away in 2019, then set records under Young Liu
When Terry Gou quit to run for president, Foxconn handed the chair to chip veteran Young Liu and hit record revenue by 2024.
Read the caseFormosa Plastics' Wang retired perfectly in 2006 — and left his estate to a 14-year war
Taiwan's 'Management God' handed the company to a committee of relatives and professionals, but never settled his own estate; heirs fought until 2022.
Read the caseEssar sold its crown jewel for $12.9B and wiped out 60% of group debt
The debt-crushed Ruias sold Essar Oil to Rosneft and partners in 2017 and repaid Rs 70,000 crore — India's largest deleveraging then.
Read the caseDeclared insolvent in 1993, Equity became East Africa's biggest bank under Mwangi
James Mwangi took a 94% pay cut to save a dying Kenyan building society, rebuilt it as microfinance, and banked millions.
Read the caseCP Group's Dhanin split the crown in 2017: chairman to one son, CEO to another
After 48 years running Charoen Pokphand, Dhanin Chearavanont divided the top jobs between two sons and the clan became SE Asia's richest.
Read the caseChugai sold Roche half of itself in 2002, kept its independence, and became No.1
Too small for global R&D, Chugai gave Roche 50.1% but kept its management and listing; by 2024 it led Japan in oncology and value.
Read the caseTwo bankers bought Nigeria's 65th-ranked bank in 2002 and made it top five
Aig-Imoukhuede and Wigwe took over tiny Access Bank in 2002 with a five-year mandate to reach the top; it doubled its balance sheet in year one.
Read the caseVietnam Airlines survived insolvency on a state loan, then flew back to profit in 2024
After four loss-making years and a 4 trillion dong rescue loan, Vietnam Airlines restructured and posted its first profitable quarter in early 2024.
Read the caseSlim's 1990 Telmex takeover turned a state phone utility into a modern network
Mexico sold voting control of bloated state telco Telmex in December 1990; Carlos Slim's Grupo Carso modernised it into a fast-growing network.
Read the caseStoneCo halted its bad-credit lending in 2021 and quadrupled profit by 2023
A credit book gone wrong drove a R$1.38B loss in 2021; StoneCo froze lending, refocused on payments and banking, and earned R$1.6B by 2023.
Read the caseSão Paulo sold control of Sabesp in 2024, raising R$14.8B to fund universal water
Brazil's largest water utility Sabesp was privatised in July 2024 when São Paulo state sold 220.5M shares at R$67 each, the country's biggest offering in years.
Read the caseDabur's Burmans won an 18-month siege and took control of Religare in 2025
The Dabur-family Burmans fought Religare's own board through courts and regulators for 18 months, then became promoters of the troubled lender in February 2025.
Read the caseNirma bet $1.4B on Lafarge India's cement plants and became a top-five maker
Detergent maker Nirma outbid JSW and Piramal for Lafarge India in 2016, and five years later its cement arm Nuvoco was India's fifth-largest cement company.
Read the caseAbu Dhabi merged IPIC into Mubadala, building a $125bn sovereign fund in one move
With oil prices slumped, Abu Dhabi folded IPIC into Mubadala in 2017, creating the world's 14th-largest sovereign fund with $125bn in assets.
Read the caseIndosat merged with Hutchison's Tri in 2021, then grew EBITDA 23% by 2023
Ooredoo and CK Hutchison folded Tri into Indosat to create Indonesia's No. 2 carrier; two years on, revenue was up 10% and EBITDA up 23%.
Read the case