As Hero and Honda part company after 26 years, India Business Law Journal discovers that dismantling an old deal can be as complex as putting together a new one
It was one of the success stories of India’s first wave of economic reforms. Yet on 22 March, Hero and Honda walked away from a longstanding marriage that helped redefine the country’s automotive industry.
Hero, the Indian partner in the relationship, traces its roots back to 1944 when four brothers set up a business making bicycle parts. In 1956 the brothers – Satyanand, Om Prakash, Dayanand and Raman Kant Munjal – started a new business called Hero Cycles to manufacture complete bicycles.
The company went from strength to strength. By 1975, Hero had become India’s leading bicycle manufacturer and in 1986 it was cited in the Guinness Book of Records as the largest bicycle manufacturer in the world.
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