Schneider Electric to acquire 74-per cent stake in Luminous for €215 million
31 May 2011
French electrical-engineering and power-management company Schneider Electric, said it would acquire a 74-per cent of Delhi-based Luminous Power Technologies for €215 million (around Rs1,384 crore).
Luminous, which makes inverters and power storage systems targeted at home users as well as small and medium sized businesses grossed €170 million in revenues in the fiscal year that ended in March.
According to Rakesh Malhotra, Luminous founder and chairman, from a small beginning 20 years ago, Luminous had evolved to become a strong market leader in inverters and the power storage space.
He added the founders would continue to be closely associated with the future growth of the company both in India and overseas.
The company which has a 3,000 strong workforce will provide Schneider a broad customer base with 3 million existing inverter users. It would also provide access to clients in sectors such as government and telecom.
According to Laurent Vernerey, executive vice-president at Schneider Electric, this would help the group (Schneider) further strengthen its position in India and attain critical size in the fast growing Indian inverter market.