One would be hard-pressed to find a picture of Jagan Reddy Nellore. We have tried but have not been successful so far. He is the reclusive entrepreneur behind Rain Industries, a business that has been in the news quite a lot recently. Even the company website, which has pictures of the entire top management, does not have his picture.

Curiously, this reclusive nature contrasts mightily with the way he has designed Rain Industries. He started Rain when he was 30 years old and from scratch, he has built an organization that spans the globe with manufacturing facilities in more than 15 locations in three continents. Rain dominates many of the segments it serves. And interestingly, Rain is as transparent and forthcoming (to the extent possible) with information about itself, as its founder is reclusive.

But the journey has been anything but smooth. To build the business Mr. Nellore has used enormous amounts of debt, and at one point in the last decade, in pursuit of growth had pledged a major portion of his holding in the company. Majority of his acquisitions and expansions in the last decade where made in middle of an up-cycle. And currently, despite having the most compliant plants, his business is facing headwinds due to the Supreme Court ruling that banned the import of major raw materials to protect the environment.

‘Rain’ might sound like an unremarkable name for a company operating in a boring commodity industry, but the journey of Jagan Reddy Nellore has been anything but boring. He has built Rain though a curious mix of extreme aggression (that seems highly risky at times) and his own brand of conservatism, backed by a considerable focus on running the business. He has let his business speak for him and we think the business has an interesting story to tell about him.

In this [case study for our Members], we have chronicled our interpretation of Jagan Nellore’s and Rain’s journey over the last two decades.

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Disclaimer: We may/may not have positions in the companies mentioned in the blog. This case study/article is not a stock recommendation. We are not SEBI registered investment advisors. Our Intelligent Fanatics Case Studies and Articles are meant to retell the stories and strategies used to create exceptional businesses so that we can learn from them.