Nexans Gains a Foothold in India
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Nexans signed a draft agreement with Polycab, the Indian leader in the cable industry, for the creation of a joint venture that will be majority-held by Nexans and managed in close cooperation with its Indian partner.
This joint venture, to be headquartered in Mumbai, will initially cover the manufacture and marketing of cables for the shipbuilding, material handling, railways and windpower industries as well as the marketing of cables manufactured by Nexans that were not part of Polycab’s portfolio. These activities are expected to generate sales of 50-60 million euros by 2011 and require some 25 million euros of investment.
Production can later be extended to very high voltage terrestrial cables. The joint venture is expected to start industrial production during the first quarter of 2009.
Michel Lemaire, Executive Vice President for the Asia-Pacific area of Nexans, said: “We are excited to team up with such a high-quality partner as Polycab for our first industrial venture on the Indian market. Polycab’s leadership and strong commercial presence in India, to be complemented with Nexans’ technical expertise, especially in industrial and high voltage energy cables, are significant assets for the future of our emerging joint venture.”
Polycab currently has sales of over 450 million euros in India, with 10 plants employing 1,500 people in the manufacture of power and building cables.
The cooperation between Nexans and Polycab will be effective after final agreements are signed, by the end of the first half of 2008.