Hinduja Tech, the product and digital engineering arm of conglomerate Hinduja Group, has sold a minority stake in the company to South and Southeast-Asia focussed private equity firm Creador.
Founded by former Chrys Capital partner Brahmal Vasudevan, Creador has agreed to invest $50 million in Hinduja Tech for about 19.6% stake.
The deal values the Chennai-based firm at about $255 million, the company said in a statement.
“The capital will empower us to pursue exciting new opportunities that will help further our position towards achieving our vision of being a global leader in the sustainable mobility engineering landscape,"said Kumar Prabhas, CEO of Hinduja Tech Ltd.
Hinduja Tech is a subsidiary of Hinduja Group’s flagship commercial vehicle manufacturer Ashok Leyland. It works with automotive organisations (OEMs and Tier-X suppliers) and mobility players across North America, Europe, APAC and India.
In 2021, Ashok Leyland had bought back a 38% stake in the company for Rs 70.2 crore ($9.7 million) from Nissan International Holding BV, which had previously bought the stake in 2014.
“We have a growth plan in the sustainable engineering mobility segment,” Prabhas said. “Hinduja Tech has developed a domain expertise over the last 10 years with a number of global OEMs as its customers."
With the capital, Hinduja Tech said it is looking to improve its existing research and development capabilities through organic and inorganic means. It is also looking to expand its global footprint.
In FY23, it acquired UK & US based Drive System Design specialising in e-powertrain design.
“Hinduja Tech has established itself as a key player in the mobility engineering R&D industry with marquee customers across the globe" said Anish Kedia, director at Creador. "With its deep capabilities across engineering, powertrain and electronics, we believe HT is well poised towards creating sustainable and profitable solutions for the future of mobility."
The company grew operating revenue nearly 54% to Rs 393 crore in revenue in the financial year 2023, as per a report from CARE Ratings.
