Greaves cotton buys EV maker ampere

Engineering company Greaves Cotton has entered a definitive agreement to acquire majority stake of 67% in Ratan Tata backed electric vehicle maker Ampere Vehicles for Rs 77 crore. In the first phase, Greaves will acquire 67% of the company at Rs 77 crore. Following this, Greaves Cotton may acquire another 13% in a span of three years “at its discretion” for Rs 75.5 crore, valuing the total deal at Rs 115 crore.

Hemalatha Annamalai, founder and CEO of Ampere, told ET: “We are a technology platform and they (Greaves Cotton) have the network and market access, which makes the deal an opportunity for both companies to explore strategic opportunities. It's a win-win for both."

This deal arrives nearly two years after Hero MotoCorp pumped in over Rs 200 crore for a minority stake, triggering interest in the nascent sector.


Annamalai, talking about the acquisition, said: "This is definitely not the case of a large company gobbling up a small one. It is a clear case of synergies and exploration of market opportunities."

Ampere Vehicles will turn into a subsidiary of Greaves after the stake sale and founder Hemalatha Annamalai would continue as CEO, a company official told ET. Additionally, non-promoter stakes owned by Ratan Tata and Kris Gopalakrishnan, co-founder Infosys, will also be bought by Greaves, the official said. The amounts invested by both Tata and Gopalakrishnan remain undisclosed.