Seibe To Buy Out Voltas Thermostat Unit In Pune
Engineering and capital goods major Seibe Plc of the UK has decided to completely buy out the Pune-based thermostat unit of Voltas, the household appliances manufacturer from the Tata fold.
A Fortune 500 company, Seibe is currently conducting a due diligence of the unit for working out an exact valuation of the total assets including machinery before the sale price can be finalised by the two parties.
Voltas has been manufacturing thermostat for refrigerators and airconditioners at this unit under a technical collaboration agreement with Robert Shaw, a subsidiary of Seibe, for some time now.
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After the takeover, the Pune unit is expected to be merged into Seibe India, the wholly-owned subsidiary of Seibe Plc which recently received government approval.
Seibe, sources confirm, has decided to make India one of its production bases for the region, and has plans to set up a large manufacturing capacity for industrial use thermostats and other engineering goods.
The acquisition of the Pune unit fits into its overall growth plans for India as the factory was already being run under technical and quality control specifications of Seibe, sources said.
The buy out will extend the multinational's control to its management as well, they added.
Although it is yet to formally set up its Indian subsidiary, Seibe is already active in the country in more than one engineering projects, with operations in Mumbai, Chennai and other cities.
One of its important contracts is the equipment supply agreement that it has bagged from Reliance Industries for its Patalganga project.