Havells acquires Sylvania''s lighting biz for $300 million

New Delhi: Havell's India has acquired SLI Sylvania's lighting business for $300 million (about Rs1,350 crore). This makes it the biggest overseas takeover by an Indian electrical equipment manufacturer till date.

The acquisition has been done through Havell's Dutch subsidiary, Havell's Netherlands BV. The combined revenues of the two companies are expected to be around $1 billion.

The all-cash deal would be funded through a mix of debt and internal accruals. The subsidiary would raise a debt of $265 million from Barclays Bank to fund the deal. The transaction is expected to be completed in April-May, with Havell's retaining SLI Sylvania's management team after the acquisition.

Post acquisition Sylvania would operate as Havell's Sylvania, a subsidiary of Havell's, and the company would continue marketing its popular brands under the same name.

Sylvania sells professional and consumer lighting brands such as Sylvania Concord Marlin, Lumiance, Claude, Zenith and Linolite-Sylvania.

SLI Sylvania, which is headquartered in Frankfurt, is a leading global designer and provider of lighting systems for lamps and fixtures. As of the year ending Dec 31, 2006, SLI Sylvania generated revenues of $594 millon, and a normalised EBIDTA of $41.2 milion.