For more updates follow Grant Thornton Bharat on WhatsApp
Aequs Pvt. Ltd, a Karnataka-based aerospace component maker, has acquired European manufacturing company SiRA Group for an undisclosed amount in a bid to boost its reach in that continent and double its revenue to $100 million by the end of this financial year.
Aravind Melligeri, chairman and chief executive officer at Aequs, said that SiRA earns an annual revenue of $50 million and the acquisition will complement the company’s Indian aerospace manufacturing capabilities; SiRA is focussing on early product development.
The acquisition will also enhance Aequs’s proximity to its key customers in Europe, Melligeri said.
SiRA Group operates across five sites and offers expertise in the areas of precision machining, assembly, and testing of engine, landing gear and aircraft actuation components, as well as welding and fabrication of aircraft assemblies.
Key customers of SiRA Group include Dassault Aviation SA, Safran SA and United Technologies Corp. Aerospace Systems.
Indian aerospace and defence will grow at a compound annual growth rate of 13.6% to become a $70 billion market by 2018, according to consultant Grant Thornton India Llp.
“The acquisition of SiRA brings highly complementary capabilities to our global aerospace ecosystem along with opportunities to expand our relationship with our key customers in Europe”, said Aequs Aerospace president Walt Sirmans.
“Expanding our value chain and local and global reach in France, combined with our facilities in Texas and India, provides for significant value creation and strategic customer accessibility,” Sirmans said.
In 2015, Aequs became the first Indian aerospace manufacturing company to expand into North America when it acquired Paris-based T&K Machine.
Melligeri said that the acquisition of SiRA strengthens Aequs’s ability to deliver increasing value to its European customers with strong collaboration between its Indian and French operations.
“This is a strategic step that will significantly enhance the future growth of the SiRA operating units. Aerospace is an increasingly globalized industry and SiRA will now be better able to adapt to its major clients’ expectations with the global offering built by Aequs,” said Alain Blévin, majority shareholder and president of SiRA Group.
Aequs, founded in 1997 as an engineering services firm called QuEST Global Manufacturing based out of the US, started manufacturing aerospace and defence components in 2006.
It has a presence in the aero structures (wings, air frames, etc.), aero systems (hydraulic valve actuators, etc.) and landing-gear segments of aerospace manufacturing, and supplies to all major aerospace and aviation companies.
Last year, Melligeri said Aequs had earmarked an investment of $100 million to expand into more segments, set up factories in the US and Europe and triple its manufacturing capacity to generate revenue of $200 million by 2020.
Aequs is focusing on precision machining, sheet-metal fabrication, assembly, forging and special processing for the aerospace, automotive and oil & gas industries.
The company’s customers include the likes of Airbus SAS, Robert Bosch GmbH and Eaton Corporation Plc.
The company has a special economic zone at Belagavi in Karnataka.
This article appeared in Live Mint on 02nd February, 2016.