New Delhi, July 14 -- Most bluechip companies are conglomerates, with subsidiaries spanning multiple industries and geographies. With diversification achieved through legally segregated subsidiaries, business groups hope to play multiple angles to amplify growth, while not remaining vulnerable to any single market segment.

But this does not always play out as expected. At times, the subsidiaries never come into their own. With persistent losses, they can bleed out the parent company's financial might. In such cases, the standalone financials may look healthy or even impressive. But a look at the consolidated financials paints a sad picture.

In this article, we shall examine three cases in which struggling subsidiaries have been deadweig...