Japanese firm to take 26 per cent stake in Wheels India's subsidiary

Japanese Topy Industries Ltd. will take a 26 per cent stake in WIL Car Wheels Ltd. (WCWL), a wholly owned subsidiary of Wheels India Ltd., said a top official of Wheels India on Friday.

"This deepens our relationship with Topy. Wheels India has had a technical collaboration with Topy for five years. WCWL will strengthen its overseas passenger cars business through this partnership and help drive growth in the passenger car business," Wheels India Managing Director Srivats Ram told reporters here.

He said the Rs 5 crore equity-based WCWL will issue fresh equity shares to Topy for the 26 per cent stake and the transaction is expected to be completed in a few months, subject to regulatory approvals.

Wheels India's market share in the passenger car steel wheels market is around 43 per cent, he added.

According to Ram, WCWL will set up a new greenfield plant in Gujarat in 2018 with a capacity to roll out 1.5 million passenger car wheels.

The Wheels India will transfer its entire passenger car steel wheel business carried out of its plants in Padi in Chennai and Bawal in Haryana on a slump sale basis to WCWL.

The passenger car steel wheels business reported a turnover of Rs 224.30 crore in FY 2017.

It caters to major automotive players in India such as Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai, and Ford, and already has a leading market share in this segment.

--IANS

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