Indian industrial tool manufacturer JK Files is in talks to take over Turkey's Makina Takim, two people familiar with the situation told Reuters.
Makina Takim's parent Gozde Girisim put its 83% stake in the company, which makes cutting tools, up for sale last December.
JK Files, a unit of India's Raymond Ltd, signed an agreement with Pragma, a representative of Gozde Girisim, about two months ago to share confidential business information with a view to buying Makina Takim, one of the sources said.
Based on Tuesday's closing stock price, the stake in Makina Takim is worth roughly 225 million lira ($39.8 million).
The source said that Luxembourg-based Ceratizit, a manufacturer of specialty tools and fixtures, and Germany's Walter Tools were also interested in purchasing the stake.
The second source also said that JK Files had signed the agreement and that others were interested in the stake, but did not give any names.
It was unclear whether Mumbai-based JK Files would go ahead with the purchase, or at what price.
A spokesman for JK Files said on Tuesday: "As per the company policy, we do not comment on market speculations and rumours."
A sales presentation by Pragma, seen by Reuters, shows Makina expects annual revenues to top 25 million euros ($28.2 million) by 2023, up from 13.6 million euros last year.
Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) is expected to rise to 8.8 million euros in 2023, from 4.2 million euros in 2018.
"All of Makina Takim's non-public shares are on sale. Pragma, the financial advisor of the sell side, and India's JK Files have signed a confidentiality agreement," the first source said.
Pragma, Gozde Girisim and Ceratizit all declined to comment. Walter Tools did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Gozde Girisim, a unit of Turkish conglomerate Yildiz Holding, holds an 83.32% stake in Makina Takim, while the rest of the company's shares trade on the Istanbul stock exchange. Makina has 200 million lira ($35.4 million) in capital.
Yildiz was among several large Turkish companies that sought debt restructurings before and after last year's Turkish currency crisis, which cut the value of the Turkish lira by 30%and complicated companies' ability to manage cash flows. Asset sales are an option in restructuring.
In February, Gozde Girisim said it had signed an exclusivity agreement with RHI Magnesita for divesting its other unit Kumas Manyezit.
