Mahindra buys leading forging firm Schoneweiss

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| Schoneweiss is a family-owned German company with over 140 years of experience in the forging sector. It is one of the top five axle beam manufacturers in the world and specializes in suspension, power train and engine parts. The company has forging capacity of 50,000 tpa and turnover of Euro 90 mn (for CY 2005). Its top customers include the DaimlerChrysler Group, MAN, Scania and Volkswagen. Schoneweiss has three manufacturing plants in Hagen and Gevelsberg, Germany with a total manpower of 550 people. |
| Mr. Anand Mahindra, Vice Chairman & Managing Director, Mahindra & Mahindra, said, "This acquisition creates for us a strong European base as it is fully harmonious with our existing presence in Germany through Jeco AG. We are now well on the path to capitalise on and consolidate our position towards becoming a globally significant player in the forgings business. Also by expanding Mahindra's 'Design to Delivery' bandwidth in the components space, Schoneweiss would be a huge step in the Mahindra's evolution as the first fully integrated auto component provider from India." |
| Mr. Hemant Luthra, President, Systems and Technologies Sector (Systech), and Member of the Group Management Board, Mahindra & Mahindra, said, "Schoneweiss is highly regarded for its technical abilities and deep customer relationships with some of the marquee names in Europe. Together with Jeco, it creates a complementary and synergistic business platform. We hope to derive benefits across the various Systech entities from this acquisition. More importantly, we will be able to offer our customers across various geographies a comprehensive suite of products and technical skills." He added, "This is furthering our strategic goal of being an auto component player with capability in design & engineering, adding value for our stakeholders." |
| Mr. Harald Korte and Andreas Voss, members of two of the founding families and driving force behind Schoneweiss will continue as shareholders of Schoneweiss and continue to be in its Advisory Board and work with the company as Managing Director respectively. Their expertise and strong customer and supplier relationships will help the company attain higher growth trajectory. |
| Commenting on the transaction, Harald Korte said, "We expect to derive benefits in both directions by the coming together of Mahindra & Mahindra and are delighted to be a part of this emerging global family". |
| Kotak Investment Banking, Mumbai and M&A International GmbH, Kronberg, Germany advised Mahindra & Mahindra while InterFinanz, Dusseldorf acted as consultants for the Schoneweiss Group. |
| M&M's M&A strategy |
| Mahindra & Mahindra has a focused mergers & acquisition strategy, which defines what is called the Mahindra template for the new Indian MNC. In today's increasingly competitive automotive industry, global OEMs must fight on every front, from quality to cost, while maintaining profitability. Cost effective components provide a major strategic advantage. Identifying this tremendous opportunity, Mahindra Systech fuses its innate domain knowledge with India's low cost manufacturing base and large, talented labor supply to create the world's first fully integrated "Art to Part" automotive component supplier. Systech is one of the six, diversified business units of the US $3.8* billion Mahindra Group. |
| About The Mahindra Group |
| The US $3.8 billion* Mahindra Group is among the top 10 industrial houses in India. Mahindra & Mahindra is the only Indian company among the top five tractor manufacturers in the world and is the market leader in multi-utility vehicles in India. |
| The Group has a leading presence in key sectors of the Indian economy, including trade and financial services (Mahindra Intertrade, Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services Ltd.), automotive components, information technology & telecom (Tech Mahindra, Bristlecone), and infrastructure development (Mahindra GESCO, Mahindra Holidays & Resorts India Ltd., Mahindra World City). |
| With over 60 years of manufacturing experience, the Mahindra Group has built a strong base in technology, engineering, marketing and distribution. The Group employs over 40,000 people and has several state-of-the-art facilities in India and overseas. The Mahindra Group has ambitious global aspirations and has a presence in five continents. Mahindra products are today available in every continent except Antarctica. |
| M&M has one tractor manufacturing plant in China and three assembly plants in the United States. It has made strategic acquisitions across the globe including Stokes Forgings (UK), Jeco Holding AG (Germany) and Schoneweiss & Co GmbH (Germany). Its global subsidiaries include Mahindra Europe Srl. based in Italy, Mahindra USA Inc. and Mahindra South Africa. M&M has entered into partnerships with international companies like Renault SA, France, and International Truck and Engine Corporation, USA. Forbes has ranked the Mahindra Group in its Top 200 list of the World's Most Reputable Companies and in the Top 10 list of Most Reputable Indian companies. |
First Published: Jan 29 2007 | 12:00 AM IST