Tilaknagar Industries, maker of Mansion House brandy, scripts a heady turnaround

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Editor's note: For much of the last decade, Amit Dahanukar, chairman and managing director of Mansion House brandy maker Tilaknagar Industries Ltd, was a hunted person.  First, he was pursued by Kishore Chhabria, the owner of Allied Blenders and Distillers, who wanted to acquire Tilaknagar Industries and add Mansion House to his product portfolio, which included the popular whisky brand Officer’s Choice. News of Chhabria’s interest in Tilaknagar first trickled out in 2013. The ABD chairman had the backing of Herman Jansen, the Dutch company that originally owned the Mansion House brand and accused Tilaknagar of violating the terms of the licensing agreement.  But that didn’t work and Chhabria had to withdraw his Rs 1,400 crore bid for Tilaknagar Industries. He then took the fight to the courts. There too he had the support of the Dutch company, which had sold a 50% stake in the Mansion House brand to ABD claiming Tilaknagar’s licence had expired. But the two partners tasted defeat not once, but twice in courts in Mumbai and Delhi. The last of the judgements, in 2019, said Tilaknagar could …