Mahindra said to be in talks to buy Ferrari designer

Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd, India's largest maker of sport-utility vehicles, was in talks to buy Italian automobile design and engineering company Pininfarina SpA, people said. After weeks of talks, Mahindra is closing in on the purchase of the company that designed the Ferrari Testarossa, said the people. Negotiations are continuing and could still fall apart, the people said.

Pininfarina's shares have risen 28 per cent this year, valuing the company at euro 121 million ($133 million). The Turin-based company has posted losses in 10 of the past 11 years as it struggled with debt and a floundering business to manufacture cars for other companies.

It would be the latest in a series of Italian companies to fall into foreign hands as the country struggles to emerge from a cycle of recessions.