Hinduja Group flagship Indian company Ashok Leyland Ltd, the second largest commercial vehicle maker in the country, has sold 38 per cent equity holding in its wholly-owned subsidiary firm Hinduja Tech Ltd to a strategic investor through fresh issue of securities, it said in a stock exchange disclosure.
The company however did not reveal the name of the strategic investor and the amount for which the stake has been sold.
However, Subu D Subramanian, MD and CEO, Hinduja Tech, separately said Nissan International Holdings, a Dutch investment arm of Japanese automaker Nissan, is the strategic investor.
We have contacted the firm for reconfirmation of the name of the investor and the value of the transaction and shall update the story as we hear from them.
“To unlock value, HTL has roped in a strategic investor to subscribe to the equity share capital of the company. Consequent to the allotment of equity shares to the strategic investor, the holding of Ashok Leyland now stands at 68 per cent," Ashok Leyland Ltd said in a filing to the BSE.
Founded in 2009, Hinduja Tech – formerly known as Defiance Technologies - provides engineering, manufacturing and enterprise (EME) services and solutions for automotive, aerospace, defence, industrial and general manufacturing industries.
Ashok Leyland has been looking to divest its non-core assets to cut its debt. In August, Ashok Leyland raised Rs 210 crore (around $35 million) by selling the residual section of one of its residential properties at Chennai. In July, The commercial vehicle maker also raised raised over $100 million through a QIP.
Chennai-headquartered Ashok Leyland manufactures and sells commercial vehicles in India and internationally, and counts Kuwait's sovereign wealth fund as one of its institutional shareholders.
Shares of Ashok Leyland were trading at Rs 49.15 per share at 12:30 AM on Tuesday, down 5.02 per cent on the BSE in a weak Mumbai market.
