French electrical engineering and power management company Schneider Electric on Tuesday said it has bought 74 per cent stake in inverter maker Luminous Power Technologies for Rs 1,400 crore. The deal could help the French major make inroads into the Indian electrical goods market. Together,Schneider and Luminous will now have around 11,500 employees in India. Schneider earned revenues of about Rs 4,500 crore from its India operations by the end of 2010,whereas Luminous recorded Rs 1,100 crore revenues for the year ended March 31,2011.Luminous had debt of Rs 240 crore at the end of the last fiscal. The balance 26 per cent stake will remain with Luminous founders,including Rakesh Malhotra,Navneet Kapoor and Sunil Bhalla,who will be actively involved in the future growth of the company in India as well as abroad. Grant Thornton India was the sole financial advisor to Luminous on the transaction. With this deal,India would now become the seventh largest market for Schneider globally. The joint venture now will be under the managing directorship of Manish Pant,who is currently Schneider Electric Indias director (strategy & alliances) and will continue to be known as Luminous Power Technologies. Betting big on the strong distribution network of Luminous,Pant said the deal will help Schneider tap Luminous strong access and sales points,which stand at over 25,000 in the country. We will also be looking at development of new products in due course, Pant added. Meanwhile,Luminous founder and chairman Rakesh Malhotra said,With Schneider Electric as a partner,we are now looking forward to an exciting growth of our current businesses in India and other parts of the world by leveraging this relationship. Luminous Power Technologies will also benefit in terms of accessing a strong product and technology platform of Schneider Electric in the area of home electricals and energy efficiency products. We will now be able to offer a more compelling and complete portfolio to our consumers and business partners.
