The rest didn''t do badly, either

Sajeev Nair
16 February 2005

Others in the running strengthened their global bases as ambassadors of 'brand India.'

Compared to the Tata's its archrivals, the Reliance group, had only one major acquisition in 2004 — Trevira Gmbh & Co KG, a German specialty polyester firm. Reliance bought the company from Deutsche Bank for 80 million euros. This was its second international acquisition and its first in the polyester sector. In 2003, Reliance had taken over Flag Telecom Ltd. According to Mukesh Ambani, Reliance Industries chairman and managing director, the acquisition would make Reliance the world's biggest polyester producer in terms of capacity.

Trevira's capacity is 130,000 metric tonne of polyester staple fibre (PSF), filament yarn (PFY) and chips from four locations in Europe — Bobingen and Guben in Germany, Silkeborg in Denmark, and Quevaucamps in Belgium. It had sales of euros 316 million in 2003 and had around 1,900 employees. The company makes specialty, value-added products with applications in the automotive and home textiles sectors, and is a leader in special fibres like flame-retardant fabrics and semi-technical textiles. Subodh Sapra, president, polyester business, Reliance, said, "The acquisition will help Trevira and Reliance to serve all customers in Europe and other world markets with even better supply chain services."

In November, General Electric (GE) had sold a 60 per cent stake in its BPO arm , GECIS, to two strategic partners — General Atlantic Partners and Oak Hill Capital Partners — for $500 million. Though the sale was to two global firms, it was made clear that Indians, including GECIS president and CEO Pramod Bhasin would head GECIS.

Industry sources say the acquisition is significant as the control is with Indians, which makes it an acquisition by India Inc, even though the equity is held by two global companies. "We have the best-in-class expertise of GE that global firms can benefit from. This gives us the financial strength to grow organically and through acquisitions," Pramod Bhasin said. GECIS started operations in India in 1997, attracted by immense cost-savings and India's huge educated workforce.