Lava rejigs board with focus on growth and expansion

Homegrown mobile phone maker Lava International has restructured the company's board in which it has excluded former chairman and managing director Hari Om Rai, according to a company statement.

Rai resigned from his position in February and does not hold any directorial position in the company. He is under judicial custody in an alleged money laundering case filed by the Enforcement Directorate.

Lava has onboarded former BSNL chairman and managing director Anupam Shrivastava and former Lieutenant Governor of Andaman & Nicobar Islands and Puducherry, Ajay Kumar Singh as independent directors.

On the strategic development,  Sunil Raina, Executive Director, Lava International Ltd. said - "We are happy to introduce the board members who shall be at the helm of driving the company’s vision and brand’s growth. Their rich industry experience, strategic insights, and passion for Lava will be instrumental for achieving operational excellence and growing its market share. The newly constituted board is a perfect blend of seasoned Lava leadership members, founders, and highly accomplished professionals with diverse backgrounds.”

The new board comprises Raina, Sanjeev Agarwal, Shailendra Nath Rai, Sunil Bhalla, Vishal Sehgal besides the two new independent directors. As per sources, Hari Om Rai individually holds 15.27 per cent stake in the company.

As per the last disclosure made by the company in a regulatory filing in 2021, Rai held around 33 per cent stake in the company, Bhalla around 21 per cent, Sehgal around 16 per cent, SN Rai 8.68 per cent and Raina 0.13 per cent.

Sources without disclosing the actual details however said that the shareholding composition of board members has changed after 2021.