Norway's Orkla considers further push into India

Norwegian conglomerate Orkla will consider further acquisitions in India following its acquisition of Alufit's aluminium extrusion plant near Bangalore.

“Yes, we may consider the possibility of further acquisitions in the future,” said Mr Johan Hovland, spokesperson for Orkla, in a telephone interview, stressing that there were no concrete plans at the moment.

“We have made a moderate acquisition in a new plant that has given us the first foothold in this market in India, which will give us the ability to serve our customers,” he said.

“We aim to put up additional capacity as soon as the market for that business is big enough.”

The acquisition was made by Sapa, Orkla's aluminium subsidiary, which already has a manufacturing plant near Bangalore.

The newly acquired plant has a capacity to produce around 10,000 tonnes of extruded metal a year – a fraction of the firm's global capacity of around 1.2 million tonnes. In January, Orkla sold its Elkem subsidiary, which makes high-grade silicon products, to the Chinese firm China National BlueStar for $2 billion, as part of a strategy to streamline its operations and focus on its core aluminium business. It is one of the biggest deals done by a Chinese firm here in Europe.

“India is one of the least developed and fastest growing markets for aluminium extrusion in the world as a global players it is important for us to be part of that growth,” said Mr Hovland.

In addition, the firm also owns a global food products business – MTR Foods – in India, which Orkla wants to expand.

“We are of course looking at the possibility of acquisitions within that area in India in general, though for the moment our strongest focus remains aluminium.”

COMMENT NOW