New Delhi - India's Hinduja Group is planning to buy a controlling stake in French auto component manufacturer Valeo in a deal expected to to be valued around 1.5 billion dollars, a newspaper report said Monday. The Indian business conglomerate met top executives of Valeo in Paris recently and talks were on, the Business Standard newspaper reported citing unnamed sources.
"The deal will provide enormous synergy for Ashok Leyland and Ennore Foundries," the source was quoted as saying.
Ashok Leyland and Ennore Foundries are Hinduja group companies. The former is India's second-largest commercial vehicle manufacturer and the latter provides raw material for engine components.
A Hinduja Group spokesman based in Mumbai said the report was speculative and refused to comment.
Valeo has production sites in 28 countries and had total operating revenue of 15.32 billion dollars in 2007.
