Paramount to buy UK's AEI Cables
The acquisition will give Paramount access to new markets like Hong Kong, Middle East, Africa and the Caribbean.
By Rajesh Unnikrishnan, TNN |
MUMBAI: Paramount Communications, a mid-sized power cable manufacturer, is acquiring AEI Cables, one of the oldest cable makers in the UK, for around Rs 260 crore. The deal is likely to be announced in a couple of days. AEI Cables, a subsidiary of UK-based electronics major TT Electronics, has been on the block after the cable firm started making losses.
The acquisition will give Paramount access to new markets such as Hong Kong, the Middle East, Africa and the Caribbean, where the AEI brand is well known. The deal, once completed, will help Paramount enter new business segments such as construction and defence where the UK firm has strong a presence.
The UK-based investment banking firm Elara Capital is advising Paramount Communications on the deal. When contacted by ET, Paramount Communications chairman & CEO Sanjay Aggarwal said: “We are definitely looking at inorganic growth.
But we would not like to comment on market speculations.” Senior officials at Elara Capital also refused to comment on the transaction.
In early 1950s, William Thomas Henley, a pioneer in the manufacture of telegraph cables was the promoter of AEI Cables. The company has changed hands a number of times. WT Henley acquired AEI in 1959 and later became a part of General Electric, following its takeover of AEI in 1967. The company was sold to TT Electronics in 1997.
AEI Cables has manufacturing facilities at Birtley in Co Durham, where it specialises in the design and manufacture of elastomeric and thermoplastic cables for voltages up to 20 kV. AEI Cables provides comprehensive cable product ranges available anywhere in the world. Currently, it provides cable solutions to market sectors such as construction, defence, fire protection, industrial, mining, oil and gas, power and rail.
Paramount Communication provides cabling solution to power, telecom and IT, railways, petrochemical and other industries. The company has a flexible manufacturing capacity, which enables it to shift focus on manufacturing one type of cable to another, depending on the prevailing demand for the product.
The company was scouting for an international acquisition to spread its operations in the overseas market. Last year, the company had raised $15 million through a GDR issue.
The acquisition will give Paramount access to new markets such as Hong Kong, the Middle East, Africa and the Caribbean, where the AEI brand is well known. The deal, once completed, will help Paramount enter new business segments such as construction and defence where the UK firm has strong a presence.
The UK-based investment banking firm Elara Capital is advising Paramount Communications on the deal. When contacted by ET, Paramount Communications chairman & CEO Sanjay Aggarwal said: “We are definitely looking at inorganic growth.
But we would not like to comment on market speculations.” Senior officials at Elara Capital also refused to comment on the transaction.
In early 1950s, William Thomas Henley, a pioneer in the manufacture of telegraph cables was the promoter of AEI Cables. The company has changed hands a number of times. WT Henley acquired AEI in 1959 and later became a part of General Electric, following its takeover of AEI in 1967. The company was sold to TT Electronics in 1997.
AEI Cables has manufacturing facilities at Birtley in Co Durham, where it specialises in the design and manufacture of elastomeric and thermoplastic cables for voltages up to 20 kV. AEI Cables provides comprehensive cable product ranges available anywhere in the world. Currently, it provides cable solutions to market sectors such as construction, defence, fire protection, industrial, mining, oil and gas, power and rail.
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Paramount Communication provides cabling solution to power, telecom and IT, railways, petrochemical and other industries. The company has a flexible manufacturing capacity, which enables it to shift focus on manufacturing one type of cable to another, depending on the prevailing demand for the product.
The company was scouting for an international acquisition to spread its operations in the overseas market. Last year, the company had raised $15 million through a GDR issue.
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