The Hindu Business Line : Praj plans to acquire US engineering co

Looking up
Praj Industries would be setting up new R&D centre and two port-based manufacturing workshops.
Each of these projects would be entailing an investment of Rs 20-25 crore.
The company has also decided to increase its manpower to 550 from the existing level of 450.

Kolkata , Aug. 31

The Pune-based Praj Industries Ltd, a global leader in setting up alcohol and ethanol plants, has created a fund of Rs 20-25 crore for acquiring an American engineering company.

According to the company spokesperson, Praj Industries has not appointed any merchant banker or agency for the proposed acquisition and everything is being done in-house. "We have already identified some companies but at this point of time we cannot disclose any further details," the spokesperson said.

Expansion mode

Apart from the US acquisition, Praj Industries would be setting up a new R&D centre and two port-based manufacturing workshops. It would also be expanding its engineering centre at Pune. The spokesperson also preferred not to disclose the name of the port-based cities for the proposed new workshops. "We cannot reveal the names for strategic reasons," she said.

Each of these projects would be entailing an investment of Rs 20-25 crore. On Wednesday, the board of directors of Praj Industries approved a total investment programme of Rs 100 crore. The company would not be raising any money either from the debt or equity market. Instead, it would be utilising its own funds for these expansion projects.

A couple of months ago, Praj Industries raised Rs 117 crore through a preferential allotment of shares and warrants to Japanese conglomerate Marubeni Corporation, Mr Vinod Khosla, world renowned IT entrepreneur and Silicon Valley venture capitalist, and others.

More manpower

Meanwhile, the company has also decided to increase its manpower to 550 from the existing level of 450. After establishing its leadership in South-East Asia, Africa, Latin America and Australia, Praj Industries is slowly making inroads into the European and American markets.

Three US-based companies have already selected Praj Industries for supply of technology for ethanol projects. Total order size is Rs 50 crore ($11 million). The plants, with an annual capacity of 35 to 100 million gallons, are being installed in states of Iowa, Minnesota and Missouri. The earlier projects were in California.

Praj Industries is also supplying technology and equipment to wheat and corn-based plants. The equipment is manufactured according to CE standards as required for exports to EU. Value of the total is around Rs 11 crore.

More Stories on : Overseas Investments | Mergers & Acquisitions | Engineering

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page