Exide may exit its Aussie associate co

Exide Industries Ltd could exit its associate company in Australia, Ceil Motive Power Pty Ltd(CMPPL), where it has a 26 per cent stake as CMPPL has run into losses after the downturn hit the Australian markets. "We are open to many options, and have not particularly zeroed in on anything. Our brand is well established in Australia and we are bullish on continuing our business there", said Gautam Chatterjee, director, industrial, Exide. He also informed that Exide could look for a new partner to distribute and market its batteries in Australia.

Currently, CMPPL markets Exide's traction batteries in Australia. The company used to export around 4 lakh traction batteries per annum to Australia around two years back. Last year it dipped to 230,000 traction batteries as the market almost halved, Chatterjee informed. T V Ramanathan, managing director and chief executive officer of Exide said "We are looking for a local promoter that can manage CMPPL profitably. We can sell our stake if something concrete works out". One of the two local promoters of CMPPL are also keen to quit the business. The battery manufacturer is,however, expecting exports to turn around in the second quarter.