Bhel to plug into overseas M&A biz unit again

Bhel has decided to revive its plans for setting up a dedicated unit for overseas acquisitions. The public sector company is in talks with global advisors such as PricewaterhouseCoopers, Ernst & Young, and KPMG for appointment of a consultant for the unit.

Bhel plans to zero in on small and medium-sized companies abroad. The PSU had a separate unit for this purpose earlier, but it failed to make an acquisition.

Bhel CMD Ravi Kumar confirmed the company is planning to revive its unit meant for overseas M&A activity, but refused to divulge details. “We’ve not earmarked any amount for our M&A activity. We felt a need to appoint global consultants as were not able to make inroads on our own,” he said.

The company faces territorial restrictions because of its collaborations with global players like GE and Siemens. Therefore, it is felt that overseas M&A will provide it the leverage to explore the global markets. Territorial restrictions do not allow Bhel to sell its products in markets where its collaborators are active.

“The separate business unit will be a centralised group based in New Delhi which will work in tandem with the selected global consultant. It will be a focused group that will take care of due diligence and other M&A procedures.

Acquisition will be, however, made by the unit which has synergy with the target company. So, if we are acquiring a boiler unit, it will be our Trichy unit which will be acquiring this company,” a senior Bhel official said.

Bhel will focus on acquiring new technologies, market access and product development. “It’s not just the power equipment business. We are also looking at companies in the rigs business and defence equipment,” the official said.

Bhel is looking at increasing its presence in West Asia, Europe and Africa

source:
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/News_By_Industry/Bhel_to_plug_into_overseas_MA_biz_unit_again/articleshow/3450361.cms