Amber may offload ILJIN stake, to invest ₹4,200 crore in PCB plants

Electronics maker Amber Enterprises is planning a ₹4,200 crore investment under ECMS, while exploring pre-IPO or private equity options for ILJIN Electronics

Amber Enterprises was in talks with private equity investors for stake sale in its subsidiary company ILJIN Electronics, while it may also look at public listing of the entity along with pre-IPO placements.

 

The monetisation strategy is being decided for the subsidiary as it expands its electronics components manufacturing facilities that will require significant investments.

 

The Gurugram-based group that has a large share in white label air conditioner manufacturing as well as offers electronics manufacturing services, is planning to invest ₹4,200 crore building printed circuit boards in Hosur, Tamil Nadu and Jewar, Uttar Pradesh under the electronics components manufacturing scheme (ECMS).

 

Chairman and chief executive officer Jasbir Singh told Business Standard that the company has put in applications for investing ₹3,200 crore in its 116 acre-Jewar facility, for which it has received the letter of intent from the Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (YEIDA), while ₹990 crore has been earmarked for the plant in Tamil Nadu, making it amongst the largest companies to seek benefits under the scheme.

 

The first phase of construction at the Hosur plant has begun and it would be completed by March 2027, he said, adding that the Jewar plant would be ready by March 2028. 

 

To fund these investments, the company will raise ₹2,500 crore through qualified institutional placement (QIP), for which it has called an annual general meeting on August 11.

 

“Private equity players are in touch with us for ILJIN. We can look at investments or a pre-IPO placement since the investors who may come would look at a roadmap for exit. We’ve brought in investors and given them successful exits in the past, so we can adopt the same model for ILJIN,” Singh said.

 

The move will strengthen its play in the ₹50,000-60,000 crore PCB market where it aims to take 10 per cent share as it looks to build a full stack of EMS offerings, having already cornered 27 per cent of the air conditioner manufacturing market of $5-6 billion.

 

The company that began by making air conditioners, washing machines, refrigerators and expanded to electronics manufacturing services in 2018, developed backward integration into printed circuit board (PCB) manufacturing in 2021, has made eight acquisitions so far. The latest being a 40.24 per cent stake in Israel’s Unitronics for over ₹400 crore.

 

Singh said the company will continue to look for potential acquisitions, mid-sized firms with synergy potential and strong promoter involvement, often addressing family succession transitions. The company also intends to venture into new areas of industrial applications, defense, railways signaling, and medical electronics, having added wearables manufacturing to its portfolio over last year.

 

The goal is to become a billion-dollar company by 2029.

 

“We started in 2018 with ₹300 crore top line and with 2.8 per cent Ebitda, we can deliver almost $1 billion by 2029 with close to 11 per cent Ebitda,” he said.

 

Amber Enterprises revenue for quarter ended June was ₹2,467 crore with net profit of ₹68.09 crore. Revenue for FY25 was ₹6,744 crore with net profit of ₹135.32 crore.