Blue Star appoints Shailesh Haribhakti as chairman, Vir Advani as vice-chairman

Leading air-conditioning and commercial refrigeration major Blue Star Tuesday announced major management rejig with the appointment of Shailesh Haribhakti, the noted chartered accountant and tax specialist, as its chairman, and elevated Vir Advani as vice-chairman and managing director. All the appointments are with effect from April, the company said in a statement.

Haribhakti succeeds Suneel Advani, who will be retiring from the board end March and will become the chairman emeritus, the company said in a statement. Haribhakti joined the board of Blue Star in 2005 as an independent director and will be the first professional, independent chairman in the 75-year history of the company, the statement added.

Haribhakti is a renowned chartered accountant and is among the leading authorities on audit and tax-related matters and is actively involved with several prominent financial institutions and industry bodies like NSE, CII, Assocham, IMC. A certified public accountant, internal auditor, financial planner, cost accountant and fraud examiner, Haribhakti is also the board as member/chairman of many companies like L&T Finance, Mahindra Lifespaces, Future Lifestyle and ACC.

Advani, who has spent 50 years with Blue Star, including 36 years on the board, has been appointed chairman emeritus with effect from April and will be an invite to board meetings. The company has also elevated managing director Vir Advani to vice-chairman, and re-designated vice chairman and managing director with effect from April.

B Thiagarajan, who was the joint managing director, has been elevated to the position of managing director with effect from April. PTI DS Blue Star has been around for the past 75 years and has been a publicly traded company for 50 years.

(With inputs from agencies.)