Blackstone acquires Comstar for ₹1,000 cr
Blackstone Group Lp has acquired Chennai-based auto parts maker Comstar Automotive Technologies Pvt. Ltd for about ₹1,000 crore, according to two people aware of the development.
Blackstone has acquired almost 100% of Comstar, valuing the company at $150 million (₹1,000 crore), said one of the two people cited above, requesting anonymity.
“The deal has been signed a month ago, and the money has been transferred last week,” he added.
Blackstone acquired the stake from Comstar’s controlling shareholders—private equity firm Argyle Street Management and the Chandaria family.
Mint reported in October that Blackstone is set to buy a majority stake in Comstar Automotive.
Emails sent to spokespeople for Comstar, Argyle went unanswered while a Blackstone spokesperson declined to comment.
Comstar, a maker of starter motors, starter motor kits and alternators for automotive applications, was founded in 1999 as a subsidiary of Visteon Corp., a unit of Ford Motor Co. in India.
Comstar was sold to Hong Kong-based Argyle Street Management and the Chandaria fam-
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ily in 2007.
The Chandaria family holds its stake in Comstar through its holding company Leticia Investments. The two firms—Argyle and Leticia—hold equal stakes in the auto parts maker.
Comstar has an installed capacity of over 3.8 million starter motors and 1 million alternators in India and 800,000 starter motors in North America till date.
It counts Ford Motor, Volvo, Tata Motors, Ashok LeylandNissan, Renault Nissan, Geely, Jaguar, Aston Martin and Mazda as customers, according to Comstar Automotive’s website.
The company has manufacturing facilities in Chennai and Tecumseh in the US, employing more than 900 people, it said on its website.
GR Infraprojects Ltd, an infrastructure developer backed by Motilal Oswal Private Equity, is seeking a valuation of close to $2 billion as it looks to file share sale documents with the markets regulator, three people aware of the development said.
The Delhi-based infrastructure firm is involved in engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) services for highways, flyovers, bridges, buildings and air-field development.
“GR Infraprojects is looking to file its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) in the month of April. The proposed IPO is expected to be at least ₹1,000 crore in size, with a mix of primary capital raise and a secondary share sale including sale of shares by MotilalOswalPrivateEquity(MOPE). The PE fund owns a 10% stake in the company,” said one of the people cited above, requesting anonymity as he is not authorised to speak to reporters.
MOPE, through its India Business Excellence Fund, had invested in GR Infraprojects in 2011. According to a second person cited above, who too spoke on the condition of anonymity, the company is looking to go public at a valuation of around ₹12,000 crore. MOPE declined to comment on the development.
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