Turkey’s Trakya Cam Sanayii AS, sixth largest global player in float glass, plans to manufacture automotive glasses as well as set up more float glass facilities in India following picking up of a stake in HNG Float Glass Ltd, which has a plant in Gujarat.
Hindusthan National Glass & Industries Ltd (HNGI), the largest glass bottle maker in the country, on Friday announced the company and its promoter, the Somany family, are divesting 42.6% stake in HNG Float Glass (HFG) to Turkey’s Trakya Cam Sanayii AS.
HNGI along with the Somany family, holds a 87.6% stake in HNG Float Glass with International Finance Corp holding balance 12%.
Following the stake sale, the promoters’ holding in HFG would fall to around 45%, while HNGI’s holding will come down to about 15% from 47.4% currently.
The deal follows three months of negotiations with the Turkish company, which began in October with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding.
“With the completion of joint venture process, evaluation studies on new growth projects regarding additional float glass and automotive glass investments in India will be initiated,” vice-chairman of Trakya, Ahmet Kirman had disclosed to Istambul Stock Exchange at the time of signing of the MoU.
Apart from Turkey, Trakya has facilities in Bulgaria and Russia and claims to be the fourth-largest in Europe. These apart, Trakya has signed a JV agreement with Saint-Gobain for setting up an automotive glass plant in Alabuga Special Economic Zone in the Republic of Tataristan.
Trakya’s entry into India is part of its strategy to enter developing economies offering high growth potentials, Kirman said. The deal comes at a time when HFG is currently working on creating a new line of float glass capacity of 1,000 tonne a day at its Gujarat plant, adding to its existing 600 tonne a day capacity.
Source: DNA India