Greaves Cotton to Acquire Ratan Tata-backed Ampere Vehicles

Greaves Cotton, a diversified engineering company, will acquire a majority stake in Coimbatore-based electric vehicle company Ampere Vehicles Pvt Ltd. Quantum of the deal was not disclosed.

Ratan Tata-backed Ampere has in-house capabilities in designing, developing, manufacturing & marketing electric vehicles with a wide range of applications.

Ampere Vehicles established in 2008, is into design, development, manufacturing and marketing battery operated electric vehicles which include electric cycles, electric two-wheeler, electric three-wheeler and custom built electric vehicles. The electric vehicles are available for personal mobility, industrial applications, and materials movement. First phase costing Rs 77 crore for acquiring 67 percent is to be completed by 31 December 2018. The company can acquire another 13 percent at its discretion for Rs 75.5 crore in a span of three years.

Greaves Cotton is a multi-product, multi-locational company is one of the leading engineering companies in India with core competencies in diesel/petrol engines, farm equipment and gensets.

Greaves currently provides transportation to almost 10 million people daily through its powertrain solutions. In addition, Greaves reaches 5 million customers (of aftermarket spare parts) per month through its network of over 5000 retail outlets.

The newly launched Greaves Care network services nearly over 7000 vehicles per month, with plans to substantially ramp-up in the coming years.

Greaves will be able to leverage its distribution, aftermarket and service strengths to help Ampere grow more rapidly, said the company.

This acquisition in the electric mobility segment underscores the strategic intent of Greaves, said the company.

Nagesh Basavanhalli, MD & CEO, Greaves Cotton Limited, said, "With this strategic acquisition, we will be able to address a wider range of customer segments with clean energy mobility solutions." Greaves and Ampere will be a synergistic combination of our excellence in frugal engineering & manufacturing with a new age electric mobility solutions company.