Mahindra & Mahindra acquires Italian design house GRD

Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd has announced that the Company has signed a binding agreement to acquire the business of G R Grafica Ricerca Design S.r.l (GRD), an Italian auto designing, body engineering and feasibility and styling firm based in Turin, Italy. The transaction is expected to close by end of January 2008.

The acquisition will be made through a newly incorporated subsidiary, Mahindra Graphic Research and Design (MGRD).

With this acquisition, the M&M intends to develop a global design centre for the group and cater to global auto OEMs. The current GRD management team will continue to drive all operations for MGRD.

"The synergies resulting from this acquisition will not only help us strengthen our existing design capabilities but will also help us emerge as a global auto design powerhouse," said Dr Pawan Goenka, president, automotive sector, M&M..

"Complementary capabilities between Mahindra and GRD will enhance the product development capabilities, provide a solid European footprint for M&M to leverage technologies and skill sets by harnessing the talent pool of designers and engineers," added Goenka.

GRD executes designing, body engineering and feasibility and styling work for leading auto OEMs and designing companies in Europe and Asia.