Mahindra and BAE Systems' Joint-Venture

To Be Named Defence Land Systems India

Announces Deepak Chhibba as CEO and Arne Berglund as Deputy CEO; To showcase portfolio of defence products at DefExpo 2010.

Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. and BAE Systems today announced the naming and corporate structure for their land system focused Joint Venture Defence Company. Based in India, the company will be known as ‘Defence Land Systems India’. It is expected that the company will be up and running as a joint venture in the near future.

Mr. Deepak Chhibba and Mr. Arne Berglund will be Defence Land Systems India’s CEO and Deputy CEO respectively. Deepak Chhibba was earlier EVP International Operations Mahindra & Mahindra and has over 32 years industrial experience. The newly appointed Deputy CEO, Arne Berglund, was previously a director at BAE Systems, Global Combat Systems, in the UK.  Arne and has also worked in Singapore, Canada, Sweden and the United States with various BAE Systems and other joint venture companies.

Defence Land Systems India will highlight an extensive portfolio of defence products and services at India's DefExpo 2010, Feb. 15-18 in New Delhi. A key project is the development of a mine protected vehicle specifically designed to meet the needs of the Indian armed and paramilitary forces. In addition, it is anticipated that Defence Land Systems India will be involved in a number of future artillery programmes, with the ambition to become an artillery centre of excellence in India that covers not just manufacturing but development, testing and support.

Anand Mahindra, Vice Chairman and Managing Director, Mahindra Group, said: “As a fully operational joint venture, Defence Land Systems India will bring real and lasting value to India's growing defence industry.  BAE Systems is the global number one land systems defence company. We are proud to have them as a partner in this joint venture and are confident of addressing the unique requirements of Indian defence and security forces with world class product offerings.”

Guy Griffiths, Group Managing Director International, BAE Systems, said: “This Company is founded with the express purpose of serving the Indian armed forces and the Indian economy through the creation of high quality jobs, the development of innovative technologies and system integration skills, and benefits from the leadership of two world class companies. We firmly support the Indian Government’s aim of procuring 70% of defence equipment domestically and see the establishment of this company as a major contribution towards this objective.

Defence Land Systems India will be headquartered in New Delhi with manufacturing at a purpose built facility South of Faridabad, just outside of Delhi. Initially there will be about 100 employees and existing projects include the Axe high mobility vehicle as well as up-armored and bulletproof Scorpios, Boleros, Rakshak, Rapid Intervention Vehicles and the Marksman light armored vehicle.

Approved by the Foreign Investment Promotion Board of the Government of India (GoI), the parent companies' initial investment will be US$ 21.25 million over a three year period. The company’s equity split will be 74% Mahindra and 26% BAE Systems, in accordance with the current defence sector Foreign Direct Investment regulations of the GoI.

About The Mahindra Group
Mahindra embarked on its journey in 1945 by assembling the Willys Jeep in India and is now a US $6.3 billion Indian multinational. It employs over 1,00,000 people across the globe and enjoys a leadership position in utility vehicles, tractors and information technology, with a significant and growing presence in financial services, tourism, infrastructure development, trade and logistics. The Mahindra Group today is an embodiment of global excellence and enjoys a strong corporate brand image.

Mahindra is the only Indian company among the top tractor brands in the world and has made an entry in the two-wheeler segment, which will see the company emerge as a full-range player with a presence in almost every segment of the automobile industry.

The Mahindra Group expanded its IT portfolio when Tech Mahindra acquired the leading global business and information technology services company, Satyam Computer Services. The company is now known as Mahindra Satyam.

Mahindra's Farm Equipment Sector is the proud recipient of the Japan Quality Medal, the only tractor company worldwide to be bestowed this honour. It also holds the distinction of being the only tractor company worldwide to win the Deming Prize. The US based Reputation Institute ranked Mahindra among the top 10 Indian companies in its Global 200: The World's Best Corporate Reputations list.

Mahindra is also one of the few Indian companies to receive an A+ GRI checked rating for its first Sustainability Report for the year 2007-08 and has also received the A+ GRI rating for the year 2008- 09.

About BAE Systems
BAE Systems is the premier global defence, security and aerospace company delivering a full range of products and services for air, land and naval forces, as well as advanced electronics, security, information technology solutions and customer support services. With approximately 105,000 employees worldwide, BAE Systems' sales exceeded £18.5 billion (US $34.4 billion) in 2008.