M&M acquires controlling stake in Engines Engineering S.p.A

Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. (M&M) has signed an agreement with Engines Engineering S.p.A., agreeing to acquire 100% stake in Engines Engineering S.r.l, the new legal entity which will be formed by transferring the business of Engines Engineering S.p.A. The transaction is subject to receipt of necessary approvals.

Hemant Luthra, President, Mahindra Systech, said ‘Continuing its vision to create ‘an art to part’ entity, M&M through Systech has been looking at acquisition of a reputed design house. Systech’s engineering services business has grown by a factor of ten in the last four years and continues to grow at the same pace as it provides its unique domain knowledge in the field of automotive and aerospace design.’

‘Demand for offshoring of engineering services has been growing rapidly. Acquiring a design house like Engines Engineering provides us the perfect vehicle to penetrate into markets of Europe, China and Russia. It also gives us the impetus to scale up the business, have access to market & technology along with management skills. Mahindra Engineering in India has over 1,000 engineers in India which provide high end cost effective solutions and can support the offshore needs and technical skills of Engines Engineering,’ said Luthra.

Alberto Strazzari, Chairman of Engines Engineering S.p.A, said, ‘Engines Engineering has been operative for the last three decades and I am keen to partner with M&M to fuel growth. I have a great comfort level with M&M, having worked together with them for the last two years. Our relationship has now been strengthened and we can combine our technological strengths, customer base and lower cost engineering excellence to fuel growth in Europe and India.’

Anand Mahindra, Vice Chairman and Managing Director, Mahindra Group, said ‘I am delighted to welcome Alberto Strazzari and his management team into the Mahindra family and look forward to harnessing their expertise in increasing the depth of our Engineering and Design Services offering. This will accelerate the growth of Mahindra Engineering Services in what we believe is the next great opportunity for India and enable it to leverage its engineering talent for the benefit of customers across the world. Engines Engineering helps us combine the Italian flair for design with Mahindra’s domain expertise and bring it to the doorstep of its European customers. Mahindra Systech has the mandate to build globally competitive businesses in selected verticals and this acquisition greatly enhances its capability to do so.’

Based in Castenaso, near Bologna, Engines Engineering’s revenues were approximately US$12 million in the last fiscal. EE is in the business of two-wheeler design and developing of motorcycle prototypes. The company was originally founded in 1979 by Alberto Strazzari, who currently holds an 85% stake in EE.

Engines Engineering has done design-related work for European motorcycle companies like Benelli, Beta, Ducati, Gilera, and Malaguti, and also for Japanese companies like Honda and Yamaha.

Pininfarina to open design centre in Pune

Pininfarina has been responsible for designing some very dramatic-looking cars over the last many years...

The widely respected Italian automotive design house, Pininfarina will soon be setting up a research and design centre in India, in partnership with Indian automotive giant, Tata. To be established in Pune, the Pininfarina design centre in India will offer prototyping and design services to Indian automotive OEMs.

Speaking on his company’s decision to come to India, the group's CEO, Andrea Pininfarina said, ‘This witnesses the great attention Pininfarina is dedicating to an emerging and highly developing market such as the Indian one.’ He also said that Ratan Tata has expressed interest in his company being involved with Pininfarina operations in India.

M&M to pick up stake in Stile Bertone

The Bertone Barchetta, which the Italian company unveiled last year

The trend of Indian companies wanting to buy out European ones continues, with Mahindra & Mahindra looking at picking up a stake in Italian company, Stile Bertone. Renowned worldwide for its automotive design prowess, Stile Bertone has designed cars for car manufacturers like Ferrari, Lamborghini and Alfa Romeo.

Stile Bertone has worked on some design aspects of certain M&M utility vehicles, and the two company have had close business ties for some time. And while there is no confirmation from M&M executies, the company is widely believed to be interested in picking up an equity stake in SB, which will help its own automotive design capabilities, as well as allow it to take on contract work from other manufacturers.

In an interesting aside, M&M has already acquired another Turin-based design company – GR Grafica – which was acquired by Mahindra Graphic Research & Design, the Italian arm of M&M. The acquisition of Stile Bertone, if it does happen, will only add to M&M’s design capabilities, which could be extremely useful for the company.