TACO in talks for acquisitions abroad

Our Corporate Bureau
19 April 2005

TACO is eyeing a turnover of $500 million this fiscal and is expecting to wrap up the acquisition deal in three months, company officials said. The deal would be the Tata Group Company''s first overseas acquisition.

The company is also in talks with small companies located in South Korea, Europe, and the US for further acquisitions, officials said without giving any details. He added that TACO is looking at companies having sales of up to $500 million. According to officials with its export-oriented focus, TACO is aiming to become a billion-dollar firm by 2010.

Officials said they expect the contribution of exports to the company''s revenues to rise significantly. At present, while 15 per cent of sales are coming from exports, they expect this figure to cross 50 per cent in a few years. They have identified interiors and electronics as their focus areas.

TACO currently exports to car-makers such as General Motors, Ford, Toyota and Honda. The company has about 13 plants and 16 joint ventures for manufacturing a range of automotive components at various locations in India.

The joint venture partnerships, which involve both equity participation and technology flow, are with companies in the US, Europe, Japan and Korea.

TACO has also announced the formation of a joint venture firm called TACO MobiApps Telematics Ltd (TMT), in partnership with Singapore-based telematics company MobiApps, to provide end-to-end fleet management and vehicle-tracking solutions. TMT has initiated discussions with Tata Motors and Ashok Leyland for installing its product as a standard fitment.