3 players join ABB in race for L&T's electrical unit

2017-7-18

 India, New Delhi: Siemens, Schneider Electric and Eaton Corporation have joined ABB in the race to acquire the electrical and automation division of Larsen & Toubro, according to Economic Times. 

Indian media say that top officials of Siemens, including chief executive Joe Kaeser, recently met their counterparts from L&T, led by chairman AM Naik, to discuss a potential deal, according to one of the people involved in the discussions.

Schneider is reported to have teamed up with Temasek, the Singapore national fund, to form a consortium to buy the division, another person involved in the discussions said. 

Dublin-headquartered Eaton does not have a serious presence in India and is the smallest among the four players. In 2011, the company was engaged in bilateral discussions with L&T to acquire the business, with no result at the time. This would be their re-engagement in the same discussions.

"These players have submitted their preliminary offers to Larsen & Toubro recently," said one of them. "Most of the offers are in the range of $2 billion. By end of this month or early next month, they will be asked to submit more binding offers following which Larsen & Toubro will sign a non-disclosure agreement with one of them for due diligence," he added. 

Depending upon the final valuation, L&T will either divest its entire holding or retain a minority stake that will be sold later, the sources said. 

Source: Economic Times