M&M to sign deal with SsangYong next week

Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M), India’s biggest manufacturer of utility vehicles, will sign a agreement on their proposed buyout of troubled SsangYong Motor Company of South Korea next week.

Sources say M&M, based in this city, is likely to announce the deal on November 23. Market leader in the domestic sports utility vehicle segment, it has been in dialogue with the SsangYong management since August, after the Korean company declared M&M the preferred bidder from the original list of seven.

Other bidders included the Pawan Ruia Group, Renault-Nissan, private equity firm Seoul Invest and Yong An Hat Company. A definitive agreement is a contract governing the terms and conditions that bind parties in an acquisition, joint venture or merger. M&M had entered into a memorandum of understanding with SsangYong, followed by a confirmatory due diligence process.

Meanwhile, the company also said that it plans to enter the US market with its electric vehicles from group firm REVA's portfolio within next five years.