“Governments can be really stupid at times. They don’t know how to secure foreign investment.” Tabish Gauhar
When private equity firm Abraaj Capital bought majority stake in the company along with management control in 2008.
November 2009, Tabish Gauhar took over as CEO. He led the Abraaj team, which identified KESC as a potential investment.
But before the turnaround came in-house cleaning. KESC had over 18,000 employees. The management decided to outsource non-core operations like power-line repair work and forced 7,000 employees to take golden handshake. The result was a revolt.
Hundreds of charged employees, led by politically-backed unions, stormed the company’s new head office located off Sunset Boulevard Road. Those who refused to join the protests were beaten, cars were damaged and burnt, and executives moved under cover of police escorts. Gauhar was fired upon twice.
Abraaj team retaliated. Gauhar led an intense media campaign with press conferences and statements defending the retrenchment. A car destroyed by the mob was placed over the office’s entrance as a sign of protest against official apathy for months. And they prevailed.
Now tell me again, please, why should I invest even dime of my money in corporations, where 20 employees are hired to do one job and even that job isn't done because they have political and union support.
Your asking me to invest my money and kiss it Goodbye.
