Schneider Electric to acquire 74% stake in Luminous Power

French firm Schneider Electric today said it will invest Rs 1,400 crore to acquire a 74% stake in India's Luminous Power Technologies Private Ltd, which is engaged in providing inverters, UPS and power storage systems for homes and small and medium-sized businesses.

"Schneider Electric acquires 74% of Luminous Power Technologies Private Ltd to secure a position in India's inverter and power market. The purchase price for 74% of the shares is Rs 14 billion (Rs 1,400 crore)," a company statement said.

 Luminous employs 3,000 people in eight different industrial sites in India and one in China. It generated revenues of Rs 1,100 crore for the financial year ended March, 2011, it said.

Luminous has a diverse portfolio that includes inverters for homes and small and medium enterprises, deep-cycle batteries, uninterruptible power supply (UPS), physical infrastructure solutions for IT & Telecom, renewable energy systems (wind and solar) and engineering design and support services to Schneider Electric.

It would also give Schneider Electric a broad customer base, with 30 lakh existing inverter users, and also access to institutional clients in particular government and telecom sectors.