Ruia buys out two more European carpart makers

The Pawan Kumar Ruia Group, owner of tyre-makers Dunlop India and Falcon Tyres as well as Jessop & Co, announced on Wednesday that it has acquired two European companies manufacturing automobile rubber sealing for an undisclosed amount.

The acquisitions are a departure from Ruia's recent strategy of picking up troubled assets in the continent hurt by the downswing in the auto industry since the beginning of 2008.

While all the Ruia Group's earlier acquisitions were of sick companies, both Turkey-based Standard Profil and Germany-based Meteor Gummiwerke are profit-making companies.

''On the first week of May, we signed the binding agreements to acquire both the sealing system manufacturers. The process of acquisition will be closed soon once we get the necessary clearances,'' group chairman Pawan Kumar Ruia told the media in Kolkata.

He added that he has acquired Standard Profil, from a clutch of investors led by Bancroft Private Equity. The company, established in 1977, has operations also in Bulgaria, South Africa and China, apart from Turkey.

''The Istanbul-based company is one of the best profit-making companies in the segment. The Bokenhem (Germany)-based Meteor Gummiwerke also made a profit last year, though it was in distress following the recession,'' he said.