Kedaara Cap may buy Munjal family’s Sunbeam

Private equity fund Kedaara Capital Investment Managers Ltd is in final stages of discussions to acquire Rajasthanbased auto component maker Sunbeam Auto Ltd for $100 million (₹650 crore), two people aware of the development said.

The Munjal family-owned Sunbeam designs, manufactures and sells automotive aluminium die casting components. A leading supplier to the automobile industry in India and globally, its customers include Hero MotoCorp Ltd, Maruti Suzuki India Ltd, Sona Koyo Steering Sytems Ltd, Daimler Chrysler AG of Germany, Robert Bosch Corp. and Continental Automotive Systems. In 2010, the Munjals of the Hero group divided their business empire among the families of the four patriarchs—Brijmohan Lall Munjal, Om Prakash Munjal, Satyanand Munjal and the late Dayanand Munjal. Ashok Munjal, son of Dayanand Munjal, the eldest in the first generation, got Sunbeam Auto and currently serves as the managing director.

EY India is advising Sunbeam Auto’s management on the sale.

Emails sent to spokespersons at Sunbeam Auto, EY and Kedaara were not answered.

Set up in 1986 to make aluminium die cast components for the two-wheeler industry, Sunbeam diversified into the four-wheeler segment in association with Maruti Udyog Ltd (now Maruti Suzuki India) in 1994.

If the deal materialises, this would be Kedaara’s second investment in an auto parts maker. Kedaara used to own Bill Forge, and sold it to Mahindra CIE Automotive for ₹1,330 crore in a cash and stock deal in 2016.

The domestic auto component industry is expected to post a growth of 9-11% for fiscal 2018, led by demand from passenger vehicle and two wheeler makers, said a December 2017 note by Icra Ltd.

MUMBAI: