ABB India to acquire Pune-based Baldor Electric India for Rs35.7 crore

Power and automation technology group ABB Ltd today said it would acquire Pune-based Baldor Electric India for about Rs35.7 crore.

The Zürich, Switzerland-based Swiss-Swedish multinational company is acquiring Baldor Electric India from Baldor Holdings Inc, USA and Baldor Electric Switzerland AG.

In a regulatory filing, ABB said that the deal was approved by the board of directors during their meeting held yesterday.

"Baldor provides sales and service assistance to its customers including support for the products viz., electric motors, power transmission products, drives, generators and other accessory products," the filing said.

The acquisition comes after, ABB in December 2010 acquired US-based electrical motor maker Baldor Electric Company, for $4.2 billion, including debt of $1.1 billion to become a global leader in industrial motion. (See: ABB to acquire electrical motor maker Baldor Electric for $4.2 billion)

With 2010 revenues of nearly $32 billion, ABB, which was sitting on a cash pile of $7.1 billion as of end March 2010, had been on an acquisition spree last year. In August 2010, it snapped up UK-based Chloride, a provider of uninterruptible power supply equipment, for £860 million.

Earlier in May, it had acquired Ventyx, a software provider for grid operators from Vista Equity Partners for more than $1 billion in cash, and ABB India acquired Bangalore-based Metsys Engineering and Consultancy Pvt Ltd for about Rs8.5 crore.

In September, ABB India acquired unlisted Metsys Engineering and Consultancy Pvt Ltd for about Rs8.5 crore to further strengthen its metal business and in March 2011, proposed to acquire the operating business of the wholly owned Indian subsidiary of the Swedish group, ABS Global Industries and Services Limited, for Rs400 crore.