Piramal Finance Ltd, a unit of Piramal Enterprises Ltd, on Wednesday said it has invested Rs400 crore in Gurgaon-based auto parts maker Hema Engineering Industries Ltd.
Hema Engineering will use the funds to refinance existing loans and fund the company’s capex plans, according to a statement.
This is Piramal Finance’s third investment in the auto-component sector within a span of six months.
The investment was made through Corporate Finance Group (CFG), the erstwhile Structured Finance Group, of Piramal Finance. CFG is a provider of senior debt, acquisition finance, promoter finance, private equity exits and mezzanine investments.
“We draw comfort from Hema’s long-standing relationship with major OEMs including its top three customers, i.e., Hero MotoCorp, TVS and Royal Enfield, and look forward to a long and mutually beneficial association in the years to come,” said Khushru Jijina, managing director of Piramal Finance.
In May, Mint reported that Piramal Finance had financed two auto-component companies—RSB Group and Indoshell Mould Ltd—through structured credit transactions worth Rs565 crore.
For Hema Engineering, the funding comes at a time when the two-wheeler-focused vendor of fabricated components is ramping up operations, with four new plants due to commence production in the current year and an additional plant planned for the next year.
“The funding structure from Piramal Finance offers a comprehensive solution for us to complete the current capex cycle, rationalize debt repayments and ensure an overall balanced cash flow,” said Chandresh Jajoo, managing director at Hema Engineering.
The company has seven existing manufacturing facilities across India, the statement said. According to a September 2015 report by consulting firm McKinsey and Co., the Indian auto-component sector has grown three-fold to $39 billion between 2006 and 2015. In the same time, exports have grown five-fold to reach $11 billion, the report said.
The government, under the ‘Make in India’ programme, has set an aggressive target of increasing the industry size to $200 billion by 2026, and increase exports to $80 billion.
According to the McKinsey report, the auto-component sector will need investments worth $85-100 billion to achieve these targets.
Source: Mint