25 Key Overseas Acquisitions India Inc Has Made In First Half Of Current Fiscal

Another significant deal in the Indian pharma segment as Mumbai-based Cipla completed the buyout of the South African pharma company (also its long-time distribution partner in SA) for an aggregate consideration of ZAR 4,507 million (Rs 2,707 crore). Set up in 1993, Cipla Medpro is the third largest South African pharma company and the takeover is in tune with Cipla’s strategy to grow its value chain through an overseas sales force. In addition, it will strengthen the company’s foothold in South Africa and the larger African continent. In November 2012, Cipla offered to acquire 51% stake in Cipla Medpro, but the company’s board had given its nod to 100% buyout in March this year. Subsequently, the Medpro shares on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange were terminated from July 16, 2013.

Airtel’s Africa business is not exactly flourishing, but India’s largest telco (by revenues and customers) bought Warid Telecom Uganda for an undisclosed sum. The deal will position the company as the second largest mobile services provider in Uganda with 39% market share, behind the market leader MTN, which has 49%. Although the deal size was not disclosed, top executives with direct knowledge of the matter said Bharti Airtel bought 100% stake from the Abu Dhabi Group, owner of Warid Telecom, in an all-cash deal.

Warid Bangladesh: Bharti Airtel Holdings (Singapore) Pte Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Bharti Airtel Ltd, is also acquiring the remaining 30% stake in Warid Group’s telecom operations in Bangladesh. With this, the telco will own 100% of Airtel Bangladesh Ltd. Bharti had acquired 70% stake in Warid Telecom, Bangladesh, in January 2010, but did not disclose the deal size.

Meanwhile, Bharti Airtel is set to acquire 100% stake into the US firm Qualcomm’s 4G venture, Wireless Business Services, by the end of the next year. Last year, it acquired 49% interest in Qualcomm AP’s India entities with licences to offer 4G data services in four circles of Delhi, Mumbai, Haryana and Kerala. In FY14, Airtel picked up another 2% stake in all the four Indian broadband wireless access (BWA) entities of Qualcomm, thus acquiring 51% stake and making them its subsidiaries. “This is as originally planned. As announced in May 2012, we plan to take our stake to 100% by end of next year,” said Sarvjit Singh Dhillon, CFO of Bharti Airtel Group, according to an Economic Times report.

It is the second major acquisition by an Indian auto component manufacturer. Arvind Dham-led Amtek Auto bought the NT Group through its 100% subsidiary Amtek Global Technologies Pte, a Singapore-based SPV. The acquisition makes Amtek one of the largest global forging and integrated machining firms, with a consolidated capacity in excess of 1 million tonne a year. The NT Group has expertise in forging and integrated machining, with 9 manufacturing units across Germany, Italy, the US, Mexico and Brazil. Its unique business in terms of scale, geographical reach and technology will help Amtek grow as a global manufacturing platform. The PE-backed Indian firm currently has 43 manufacturing plants with 39 located in India and four in Europe.

A major overseas acquisition by an Indian-origin company in the global railway infrastructure sector. West Bengal’s PCM Group, through its subsidiary SPV PCM Germany GmbH, acquired the 118-year old Rail.One GmbH and all its subsidiaries for around €36 million. Rail.One is a global manufacturer of concrete railroad ties, railroad systems and railway track, and the takeover will further consolidate PCM’s in the railway infra space. The Indian group already has significant presence in diverse sectors including engineering, information & communication, manufacturing, service, energy, media, steel, tea and consumer products in several countries. Besides India, PCM has manufacturing units in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Thailand and Bhutan.

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Vandana Luthra-promoted wellness, slimming and beauty care chain never had it this good. VLCC recently made its second foreign acquisition and bought a controlling stake (pegged at 80% by those with direct knowledge of the deal) in Singapore-based Global Vantage Innovative Group (GVig), which produces and sells beauty and wellness products. The deal, lying in the region of $14.75-17.7 million, gives VLCC access to GVig’s all 3 subsidiaries, a wide range of products and R&D capabilities. Late last year, VLCC also acquired Malaysia-based slimming and personal care services chain Wyann International.

This time, a domestic unit of the Austrian bank Hypo Alpe Adria was acquired for around $85.5 million. Hypo Alpe Adria Bank AG, the unit operating in the southern Austrian province of Carinthia, was sold to London-based businessman and investor Sanjeev Kanoria. Interestingly, Sanjeev, who is also a doctor, is the brother of Hemant Kanoria, chairman of the Indian group SREI Infrastructure Finance Ltd. Asked about the new venture, Sanjeev said in a statement that “new products, additional markets and fostering the core region are the aims of our engagement,” and added that SREI would provide ‘financial expertise’ to the business.

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Led by Anurag Bagaria, Bangalore-based Kemwell Biopharma joined the big league when it acquired North Carolina’s Cirrus Pharmaceuticals. Kemwell specialises in pure play contract development and manufacturing, and caters to MNCs like GlaxoSmithKline, Merck, Novartis and Pfizer. The company is an approved pharma manufacturer in over 80 countries, with 7 production facilities and R&D laboratories in India and Sweden. Cirrus, on the other hand, focuses on R&D, development services and stand-alone analytics, which will complement Kemwell’s offerings.

Minda Industries, the flagship company of the Minda Group, currently commands more than 70% market share in the 2/3-wheeler segment in India. So when it acquired 100% shares of Clarton Horn S.A.U., a leading manufacturer of automotive electronic horns, the initiative paved the way for the firm to become a global player in this space. Minda bought these shares from PMAn Domestic AG (Germany) for €6.8 million. Clarton Horn has a manufacturing plant in La Carolina in Spain and sales office in Germany. Its annual turnover for 2012 stood at €38 million.

Don’t write off the engineering segment when it comes to overseas acquisition. Here is a diversified group from Mumbai that acquired 100% stake in the century-old Italian valve manufacturing firm Cesare Bonetti. Waaree has a presence in more than 68 countries and its major businesses cover areas like solar energy, industrial valves, petroleum equipment and process control instrumentation. Over the past 100 years, Bonetti honed its expertise in manufacturing and substantially expanded its footprint across the global market. So this takeover is bound to provide an adequate growth push to the fast growing Indian group.

India’s Technocraft group made a strategic acquisition of Canada-based Swift Engineering, which focuses on EPCM services and specialises in the oil & gas sector. Swift’s operations are said to be ‘synergic’ to Technocraft’s wholly owned subsidiary Technosoft, which provides engineering and design services various industries. Post acquisition, Swift will make its “services more broad-based and cover a larger international geographical area,” a company statement said. Currently, Technosoft has primary designing centre in Mumbai and subsidiaries in Milwaukee and Manchester.

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Flexible packaging films producer Jindal Poly Films, part of the diversified BC Jindal Group, completed its acquisition of the global biaxially oriented polypropylene (BOPP) films business of the US-based ExxonMobil Chemical for about $235 million. The transaction covered 5 BOPP production locations in the US (Georgia and Oklahoma), Italy, the Netherlands, and Belgium, as well as a technology centre and sales office in Rochester (New York) and an office in Luxembourg. With the latest acquisition, the combined capacity of Jindal for BOPP films is pegged at about 445,000 tonne per annum.

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Founded in 1947, Wainwright Industries has grown from one small punch press to a multi-divisional company, providing metal stamping, machining and logistics services. So it made sense for Chennai-based TVS Logistics, a flagship company of the TVS Group, to go for this acquisition. The third-party logistics service provider clinched the deal at $8.87 million and the takeover will enable it to ensure end-to-end production supply chain solutions and a comprehensive outsourcing model. This is the 2nd acquisition for the company this year after it acquired UK’s Rico Logistics. It is also the 2nd acquisition by TVS Logistics in the US after it bought Manufacturers Equipment and Supply Company in 2011.

Cleantech is undoubtedly a niche space, but Hyderabad-based waste management firm Ramky Enviro Engineers has a big vision to follow. Backed by Standard Chartered Plc’s private equity arm and IL&FS Investment Managers, it snapped up an acquisition in Australia, only months after delaying its $200 million IPO. The target company was Enviropacific, an environmental engineering and petrochemical services provider. The takeover is expected to ensure a rapid global expansion in Australia and other key regions including Greater China, Singapore, ASEAN and the Middle East where Enviropacific has a strong customer base.

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Tech takeover is a recurrent theme in outbound M&A deals. So it’s no surprise when Tata Technologies, a global leader in engineering services and enterprise IT, picked up US-based engineering services firm Cambric Corporation for $32.5 million in a cash and earn-out deal. Besides the US, Cambric has extensive footprint in Eastern Europe including 3 development centres in Romania and a well-diversifies, high-value customer base covering heavy machinery, agricultural, off-highway and automotive companies. So the buyout means a significant global expansion for the Indian firm and complete access to high-end systems engineering, design and powertrain engineering expertise of Cambric.

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IT and telecom solutions provider Tech Mahindra made its 3rd acquisition this year when it bought the Swedish firm for an undisclosed amount. The Lab was part of Sony Mobile Communication’s internal test function and the move will help Tech Mahindra establish its first European test lab with multi-million dollar infrastructure. It will also strengthen its presence in the EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) region. In September 2012, the company acquired 100% stake in telecom BPO player Hutchison Global Services for $87 million and then picked up 51% in Bharti Enterprises-promoted Comviva Technologies.

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Here is one mobile VAS firm that is making waves – in India and abroad. The Bangalore-based company acquired Boston’s Livewire Mobile for $17.8 million, an initiative that will enhance its mobile entertainment portfolio in North America. The deal also included stock purchase of Fonestarz Media, the UK-based managed services arm of Livewire. Now OnMobile will have full access to Livewire’s offerings of mobile music, RBT (ring back tone) and gaming solutions, as well as its marquee customer base. It also means the Indian firm will be working with 6 of the top 10 mobile operators in North America.

Here’s the perfect merger between two like-minded companies in the same domain. BSE-listed software testing firm Cigniti Technologies acquired Texas-based specialised software testing company Gallop Solutions in a cash-and-stock transaction. Although not officially disclosed, an industry source put the deal value at $15 million. Cigniti claims that post the merger, it will become the 3rd largest testing company, after SQS Systems and Polytest. Gallop, too, has Indian-origin founders (Manohar Reddy and Mahendra Alladi) and focuses on areas like test automation and test asset modernisation. The combined revenues of the two firms are put at $40 million, with a total workforce of 800.

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IT major Tata Consultancy Services, part of the salt-to-software Indian conglomerate Tata Group, said it had signed definitive agreements to acquire 100% equity shares in Alti SA for €75 million in an all-cash deal. The acquisition will strengthen the Indian firm’s footprint and service capabilities in France and other parts of Europe. TCS would also have access to some blue chip customers in banking, luxury, manufacturing and utilities sectors.

Bangalore’s Eka Software bagged Calgary-based ETRM (energy transaction and risk management) solutions provider EnCompass Technologies Inc for an undisclosed amount. Backed by Nexus Venture Partners and GP Group, Eka provides commodity trade and risk management solutions while EnCompass offers integrated ETRM software to energy traders and marketers. The joining of hands will enable Eka to deliver best-in-class ETRM suite to its customers focusing on a wide array of energy and commodities transactions.

That’s precisely what Mcleod Russel, the world’s largest tea producer, did. In May this year, the Kolkata-based company said in a stock market disclosure that its Vietnamese subsidiary Phu Ben Tea Company had signed an agreement to purchase a tea processing factory for $2.75 million. The annual production capacity of the new unit is approximately 1.2 million kg.

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Meet the country’s biggest plastics processing machinery maker who decided to acquire 80% stake in its technology partner Italtech through an overseas joint venture. A far-sighted move by the Indian firm as the deal gives it a foothold in the automotive sector, a large export market across Europe and a bigger range of product offerings. Auto component maker Italtech specialises in manufacturing large-tonnage two-platen machines and was owned by Italian car-maker Fiat Group until 2004.

E-com 2.0 still has immense potential, at least in India. So Bangalore-based Myntra Designs Pvt Ltd decided to expand its service offerings and snapped up San Francisco-based virtual fitting room start-up Fitiquette in a stock-cum-cash deal. The US firm was in beta at that time but had gained some considerable traction – around 20,000 users and 2-3 million try-ons, as reported by Techcrunch who first reported the deal.

Mobile gaming gets the eyeballs, especially when you have one of the Ambanis behind it. Technically speaking, this deal was done in Q4 of the last financial year, but we have decided to put it here since India is touted as the next big gaming market. Reliance Games, the international mobile gaming business of Anil Ambani-led Reliance Big Entertainment, expanded its global footprint when it made two buyouts in Japan and South Korea. The firm acquired 100% stake in the Japanese mobile games company Funnel and 51% stake in Bhusan-based Bluesom Inc. The deals ensured acquisition of some key IPs and direct access to the world’s biggest mobile gaming markets.