As part of its strategy to expand its presence in the global auto sealant segment, the city-based Pawan Kumar Ruia group has signed two more agreements to acquire two auto sealing companies. While one of the companies is in Germany, the other is based in Turkey.
The German company is called Meteor and the Turkish company is Standard Profil.
The Ruia group, which had bid for almost all the major available sealing companies in Europe now has in its fold Draftex Automotive GmbH, based in Dusseldorf, Germany acquired in 2009, the Leicestershire, UK based Schlegel Automotive Europe Ltd which it bought in 2008.
If the agreements it has signed for the other two companies come to fruition, then the Ruia Group, which has presence in heavy engineering and tyres sectors mainly, would have a major presence in the European auto sealant segment.
While most of the European buys are of companies that faced liquidation or were placed with Trustees in wake of the 2008 crisis, the Turkish buy marks a change, in that it is billed as one of the best-managed sealing systems company and is a company deal as opposed to an asset deal where only assets are bought.
While Meteor would have to be bought from a trustee, Standard Profil is being bought from a Private Equity Fund led consortium. It may be mentioned that with these two proposed buys, Ruia Group would have within its fold most of the company's considered to be Draftex's global competitors.
