Amalgamations Group chairman and managing director A Sivasailam, died yesterday, following a cardiac arrest, at the Kasturba Gandhi Hospital in Manipal Karnataka. He was 77.

Sivasailam was head one of the Chennai's most admired business houses.

Sivasailam, who was the eldest son of industrialist S Anantharamakrishnan was born on 24 August, 1934.  Anantharamakrishnan was a pioneering industrialist of his times who ran the highly successful British-owned South Indian business conglomerate Simpsons Group.

Sivasailam, a Padma Shri awardee, ran his business establishments numbering around 48 in all on the guiding priniciple of integrity.

Graduating in commerce from the Loyola College, Chennai, Srisailam followed it up with four years of management accounting and advanced accountancy education at a leading firm of chartered accountants in London. Returning from the UK in 1957, he joined his father's Simpsons Group in 1957 as comptroller and treasurer of Addison & Co. In 1961, he assumed responsibility as general manager of Tractors and Farm Equipment Limited (TAFE), finally taking over as the chairman of the Amalgamations Group in August 1968.

Under his stewardhip, the turnover of the group grew from Rs35 crore in 1961 to the present Rs7,000 crore. The group's 48 companies employ a combined workforce of 12,000.

The Amalgamations Group, today has a strong presence in diverse sectors including manufacturing, plantations and book publishing and selling. The group's manufacturing interests span a variety of industrial products diesel engines, automobile components, batteries, cutting tools, tractors while in plantations it enjoys a strong presence in fine quality teas.

Sivasailam also held various offices in government and public institutions, including the Indian Institute of Technology-Madras, the Madras Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Society of Indian Automotive Manufacturers. He was also Sheriff of Madras in 1969-70.

In recognition of his achievements Sivasailam had been conferred numerous accolades including the first MMA Distinguished Fellowship award in 2005.

In 2007, he was honoured with the Padma Shri. He was conferred an honorary doctorate in literature by the Madurai Kamaraj University. He was awarded a lifetime contribution award by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) in 2008.

More recently, he was awarded a lifetime achievement award by the Automobile Components Manufacturers Association of India (ACMA).

Sivasailam is survived by daughters Mallika Srinivasan and Jayshree Venkatraman.

MA Alagappan, former chairman of the Murugappa Group said Sivasailam's  death was a great loss to industry in general and Chennai in particular.

According to A Vellayan, chairman of the Murugappa Group, Sivasailam was ''a stalwart in the southern industrial scene and a father figure for Chennai.''