Minda Industries to acquire German lighting design and engineering company

Minda Industries Ltd (MIL), the flagship company of the UNO Minda Group, has entered into a definitive agreement with to acquire 100 percent equity of Delvis GmbH, an automotive lighting. design and engineering company. The enterprise value of the German company along with its two subsidiaries (Delvis Solutions and Delvis Products) is 21 million euros (Rs 163 crore). The transaction, funded by a mix of debt and equity, is expected to be concluded in the next two months.

Delvis GmbH, which was set up in 2002, is currently led by managing directors Mario Wanninger and Matthias Ablen. The business is built around German automotive industry, in particular the Volkswagen Group. Delvis is among the top players with state-of-the-art lighting technology and works closely with German OEMs (Volkswagen/ Audi/ Porsche) in pre-development activities for high-end platforms, which deploy the next level of technologies.

Delvis Solutions provides on-site engineers to the Volkswagen Group for testing and validation and also hosts electronic test benches of Audi for testing and validation activities. The company also caters to other OEMs and European Tier 1 suppliers in pre-development and new product development. Three years ago, the company started supply of its flagship product -- logo projectors and logo beamers -- to its clientele in Germany.

For Minda Industries, the acquisition is part of its strategy to both increase and acquire technological capabilities in existing product lines like automotive lighting. This acquisition is expected to deliver considerable synergies for growth of lamp business in India and enhance its product offerings to OEMs.

Commenting on the planned acquisition, N K Minda, CMD, Mind Industries, said “The automotive lighting industry has seen a major shift in technology with the advent of LED-based lighting products. While the global markets had migrated to LEDs eight to 10 years ago, the India market is now demanding this technology. This acquisition would help us bridge this gap with cutting-edge technology that Delvis has to offer to global markets.”

Minda Industries, a leading supplier of proprietary automotive solutions to OEMs as Tier 1, recorded a turnover of US $ 1.14 billion (Rs 8,076 crore) in 2018-19 and is rapidly expanding with growing market share across all its product lines. The Group is a global player in the automotive sector with overseas manufacturing facilities in Indonesia, Vietnam, Spain, Mexico, Morocco and Colombia as well as design offices in Taiwan, Japan and Spain. It has over 62 manufacturing plants globally and has JVs and technical agreements with world renowned manufacturers from Japan, Italy and Taiwan.