French engineering group Assystem S.A. has acquired Mumbai-based engineering consultancy firm STUP Consultants Pvt. Ltd, Assystem said in a statement on Thursday.
The Euronext Paris-listed company has bought a 99% stake in the Indian firm for around 21-22 million euros, Ashish Tandon, managing director, Assystem STUP India, said in an interview with Mint.
Assystem is in the business of offering engineering services for infrastructure projects. The acquisition of the Mumbai-based consultancy will help the company in developing further expertise to tap the Indian infrastructure market.
The deal will help Assystem optimise its nuclear engineering services by capitalizing on STUP’s existing Indian base to support various players in the nuclear power plant construction program launched by the Indian government, the company stated.
The company plans to additionally set up a nuclear engineering knowledge centre in India with the objective of becoming one of leading players in the sector in the country, it said. Also, it seeks to leverage STUP’s team and networks for growth in the infrastructure engineering market in India.
“The new entity will seek to maximize new opportunities and prospects arising from India’s national infrastructure pipeline programme,” Assystem stated.
As of now, the 7,000 projects identified in the infrastructure pipeline have an estimated project cost of ₹111 trillion. Tandon said this offers a major opportunity for design and project management, where Assystem can participate.
“You can safely take 7-10% of the project cost (as the opportunity for design and project management), which is humungous for any consulting company,” said Tandon, referring to the opportunity offered by India’s infrastructure creation target. He also said that that the opportunity in India for project consultants is sufficiently large for all players.
Through this transaction, Assystem seeks to add to its expertise in non-nuclear infrastructure, particularly in, roads, highways, expressways, airports, aviation, metros and railways as well as offshore and coastal engineering. The other areas the company is eying are urban development, industrial complexes, and renewable energy.
The deal broadens the company’s access to India’s energy and infrastructure market, the statement said.
STUP Consultants offers services in transportation infrastructure engineering. That covers projects like motorways, railway infrastructure, airport terminals, water treatment and energy, It generates annual revenue of some around 20 million euros and has around 1,100 employees across India, Assystem said in its statement. An email sent to STUP Consultants on Thursday remained unanswered at the time of publishing.
