Businessworld has an article on how The Sona Group is using a round of PE financing from JM Financial to accelerate its growth - which had slowed down a bit relative to the competition.
Arun Natarajan is the Founder & CEO of Venture Intelligence, the leading provider of information and networking services to the private equity and venture capital ecosystem in India. View free samples of Venture Intelligence newsletters and reports.
As (Sona Group Chairman Surinder Kapur) says, “One of the reasons for bringing in JM is to help us look at the M&A options.” Sona is now in talks with a forging company, which has a presence in Europe and North America, for possible acquisition. This company is estimated to be roughly the same size as the Sona Group, with a turnover of around Rs 1,100-crore ($250 million).
Meanwhile, Kapur believes that the key to future success lies in developing products from scratch. According to him, 10 products ranging from electronic steering systems, drive-by-wire mechanisms and steering columns are currently under development. And, for the first time, the group is also willing to look at opportunities outside the automotive sector. “We are developing an energy saving device, something that can find application across all sectors. For our own group, this could mean energy cost savings of 20 per cent by 2010,” he says.
Arun Natarajan is the Founder & CEO of Venture Intelligence, the leading provider of information and networking services to the private equity and venture capital ecosystem in India. View free samples of Venture Intelligence newsletters and reports.