The Rs 4,200-crore Anand Group, which is among the country’s leading auto component makers, has drawn up a unique restructuring plan to streamline operations across its 19 subsidiary firms. As per the plan the group would either merge its subsidiary firms that have a total turnover of less than Rs 50 crore or add more business to these firms to take their total networth up to Rs 100 crore in the next two-three years.
Apart from this, the group has set a target to invest Rs 1,200 crore over the next three years for expanding its existing businesses. ?The entire investment would be pumped in for our existing businesses,? said group CEO of Anand Deepak Chopra. Though Chopra ruled out any immediate plans of getting any of its subsidiaries listed, he said the move would better coordination across its verticals. ?Our aim is to bring down the total subsidiary firms to around 15 or 16 from the current 19,? he said.
Currently, the group has as many as 12 subsidiary firms that have a networth of less than Rs 50 crore. Some of the more popular names being Victor Gaskets, Henkel and Degremont. ?We feel that these companies should have a minimum networth of Rs 100 crore in the next two to three years,? Chopra said. He said that the group is also open to entering into joint ventures with foreign companies for sourcing technology.
Chopra said that the group has also firmed up plans to chart out an inorganic growth structure over the next few years. As per the plan the Delhi-based component group has identified defence as the major growth area. ?Defence and railways are the two big growth areas. We could supply components for the manufacture of tanks, armoured vehicles and missiles as well,? Chopra said. Explaining the rationale behind the move, he said it would strengthen the group’s bottom line.
Unlike some of its other competitors, Chopra said the group would not look to enter the passenger vehicle segment anytime in the future. ?We have created our core strength to develop the auto component business and there are absolutely no plans to enter the automotive space,? he said. Last year, Force Motors, part of the Firodia promoted group, announced that it would roll out SUVs by the year end. However unlike Anand, the Firodia group have had expertise in the automotive space in the past as the makers of Matador and Tempo. Gabriel India, the listed arm of the Anand Group, closed at Rs 50.39, down 0.5% on Thursday at the BSE.