M&M signs to acquire Italian auto design company

Coimbatore: Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd has signed a binding agreement to acquire the business of G R Grafica Ricerca Design S.r.l (GRD), an Italian auto designing, body engineering and feasibility and styling company.

With this acquisition, M&M intends to develop a global design centre for the group and cater to global auto OEMs. It would acquire the design business through a subsidiary to be newly incorporated and proposed to be named as Mahindra Graphic Research and Design (MGRD).

Dr Pawan Goenka, President, Automotive Sector, M&M, said, “The synergies resulting from this acquisition will not only help us strengthen our existing design capabilities but will also help us emerge as a global auto design powerhouse. Complementary capabilities between Mahindra and GRD will enhance the product development capabilities, provide a solid European footprint for M&M to leverage technologies and skill sets by harnessing the talent pool of designers and engineers.”

GRD employs a team of 60 people with technical competence and experience across various designing segments. For the year 2007, its revenues were around €6 million. The current GRD management team will continue to drive all operations for MGRD and the transaction is expected to close by end of January 2008, M&M said in a communication to the Bombay Stock Exchange. However, the notification did not mention the value of the transaction.