Top-deck churn at Marico-owned Beardo: CEO goes on sabbatical, other key executives quit

While it is unclear if Malhotra plans to return after a year-long break, Darayus Mehta has started his own jewellery business. Ketan Jain, on the other hand, has joined Renee.

Sujot Malhotra, the chief executive officer (CEO) of Beardo, a men’s grooming company that Marico acquired in June 2020, has gone on a year-long sabbatical beginning April 1, four people aware of the developments told Moneycontrol. Malhotra, who had spent over 13 years with the FMCG giant, was made the CEO immediately after the Ahmedabad-based company was fully brought under Marico’s wings.

But over three years after the acquisition, all top executives who were in-charge of growing Beardo initially are not with the company now. While Malhotra is away on sabbatical, Beardo’s Head of Marketing Darayus Mehta and Ketan Jain, Head of Finance and Operations, have exited Marico over the past three months, sources told Moneycontrol.

While it is unclear if Malhotra plans to return after a year-long break, Mehta has started his own jewellery business. Jain, on the other hand, has joined Renee, a company founded by Beardo’s co-founder Ashutosh Valani.

Valani had first sold 45 percent of Beardo to Marico in 2017 and then, about three years later, the FMCG giant bought the remaining 55 percent and fully acquired the company in June 2020. The deal size was not disclosed.

Sanjay Mishra, chief operating officer, Marico (India), was played a key role in stitching the deal back then, also left in September 2023.

The moves effectively mean that all top executives who brought Beardo under Marico’s fold and ran the brand for over three years after that are not with the FMCG giant at the moment. These exits come when there is heightened competition in the D2C space, where an increasing number of players are choosing to adopt an offline sales approach as the online channels plateau. Companies are even looking at an omnichannel play, where it'll be a mix of both the worlds.

ALSO READ: D2C consolidation: Value creation for FMCG majors, wealth creation for founders

Beardo sells beard oils, beard wax, soaps and other grooming products for men. It competes with Carlyle Group’s Ustraa  (VLCC) and Emami-backed The Man Company, among others.

During Malhotra’s absence, his role is likely to be divided between two executives: Siddharth Vaya, chief business officer of Beardo, and Koteshwar LN, EVP and head of Digital first businesses at Marico, one of the persons cited above said. The two will together lead Beardo’s operations now, the person added.

While Vaya is an insider and has been with Marico for over four years, Koteshwar LN joined the company only in October 2023 after spending more than four years at Flipkart and around 15 years at The Coca Cola Company. Vaya has previously worked with brands such as Nivea and Reckitt Benckiser.

Marico confirmed the exits to Moneycontrol. "The exits of individuals mentioned in the article were in the normal course of business and at different points in time where each of them decided to pursue external career/entrepreneurial opportunities after spending significant time with the company," a company spokesperson said in response to Moneycontrol's queries.

"None of these exits have any inter-linkage with each other as suggested in the article. Beardo continues to be a key constituent of our digital-first portfolio and has delivered well ahead of our internal aspirations so far. The brand has exhibited robust financial performance in terms of revenue and profitability while garnering a unique and strong brand presence in the premium male grooming market in India. We are confident that the business will continue to scale up profitably in the future as well," the spokesperson added.

Beardo’s financial performance over past three years has been a mixed bag. In FY21, it incurred a loss of Rs 5.3 crore on the back of Rs 64 crore in revenues. In FY22, the topline grew to Rs 95 crore and the company turned a profit of Rs 75 lakh. But in FY23, it again slipped into a loss of Rs 6 crore and clocked Rs 107 crore in revenue, as per regulatory filings.

While the company is yet to file its FY24 results, Marico’s CEO Saugata Gupta, in an analyst call in January, said the men’s grooming brand would turn EBITDA positive by end of FY24.

Note to readers: The story was updated to reflect Marico's views which were sent to us hours after the story was published.