Max Financial Services: Company worth ₹24,000 crore running with only 12 employees

• Ranking 166th on the Hurun list, Max Financial Services Limited (MFSL) share price witnessed a 8% increase within the past week.
  
• MFSL manages an 81.83% majority stake in Max Life Insurance, India’s largest non-bank, private life insurance company.
  
• The group started off as a manufacturer of penicillin-based drugs.
  

A holding company with only 12 employees has made it to India’s top 500 most valuable companies, according to the Burgundy Private Hurun India 500 list released on Thursday, December 1.

Ranking 166th on the list, the market value of the 38-year-old financial services company Max Financial Services Limited (MFSL) was at ₹24,436 crore, according to the Hurun list.

MFSL was ranked second in the Hurun list of ten most valuable companies with the least number of employees. The company which had the lowest number of employees was Kama Holdings with only three employees.

Both these companies are holding companies which hold stake in companies that generate value. Max Financial Services is a holding company that owns and actively manages an 81.83% majority stake in Max Life Insurance, India’s largest non-bank, private life insurance company.

Max Financial Services is listed on NSE and BSE, and its stock has also been rising for the last one week, going up by 8%. MFSL is a part of the Max Group, a $4.5 billion Indian conglomerate that provides healthcare, clinical studies and IT enabled services.

But the group pivoted to many businesses over the years. “Starting off as a manufacturer of penicillin-based drugs, bulk active pharmaceuticals and packaging films, Max India evolved by partnering with global leaders like New York Life, Gist-brocades, Elf Atochem, Hutchison Telecommunications, Motorola, Comsat etc. Max India's key joint ventures partners include Life Healthcare and Bupa Finance Plc and Toppan Printing Co,” Max Financial blog stated.

Besides a 15% holding by Analjit Singh and sponsor family, some of the other group shareholders include MSI, Ward ferry, New York Life, Baron, GIC, Vanguard, Jupiter, Blackrock, and the Asset Management Companies of Nippon, HDFC, Canara, ICICI, Robeco Prudential, Sundaram, Mirae, DSP and Kotak. In spite of 17 different shareholders, the company has only 12 employees.

Financial services on the top

Most of the companies that featured on the 2022 Burgundy Private Hurun India 500 list, with lowest employees belonged to the financial services. To make it to this coveted list, companies require a minimum value of ₹6,000 crore, equivalent to approximately $725 million.


Companies with least number of employees

Rank	Company	Number of Employees	Industry	Value (INR Cr)
1	Kama Holdings	3	Investments	8,388
2	Max Financial Services	12	Financial Services	24,436
3	Bajaj Holdings & Investment	21	Investments	74,128
4	Tata Investment Corporation	22	Investments	11,871
5	GMR Airports Infrastructure	40	Construction & Engineering	22,605
6	Mensa Brands	48	Investment	8,300
7	Rattanindia Enterprises	97	Energy	6,725
8	Tagros Chemicals	123	Healthcare	7,300
9	Rajesh Exports	135	Jewellery	20,420
10	Farmson Pharmaceutical	140	Healthcare	10,100
10	Hasura	140	Software & Services	8,300

Source: Hurun Research Institute, 2022 Burgundy Private Hurun India 500

In general, the list of most valuable 500 private companies is dominated by financial services. “Financial services has the largest share with 73 companies. Healthcare comes second with 60 companies. Software & Services and Chemicals with 37 companies each follow. The Financial Services sector is the biggest contributor to the 2022 Burgundy Private Hurun India 500 with 15% or 73 companies, down by 5% compared to last year,” Hurun reported.

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