ACE Ltd eyes Italian company for Rs 7-8 cr; to enter capital marke

New Delhi, Aug 31 (UNI) Action Construction Equipment Ltd, which seeks to raise Rs 60 crore through initial public offer (IPO) of 46 lakh equity shares, plans to acquire an Italian company for Rs 7-8 crore, company's Director Sorab Agarwal said here today.

''We have plans to acquire a company, either from China or Italy, for the technology and the machinery'' he told reporters.

The company would prefer to acquire the Italian company, which would pave way for entring into the European market, he said.

Mr Agrawal, however, refused to divulge further details about the companies, but said the acquisition is likely be completed by December.

A decade-old company, which is a major construction equipment manufacturer in India with 3,350 customers in government, public and private sectors across the country, plans to raise Rs 60 crore through its IPO at a price band of Rs 110-130 per share.

Besides sparing Rs 7-8 crore for acquiring the foreign company, ACE plans to allocate Rs 23 crore for setting up a new plant, for manufacturing loaders, higher capacity Tower Cranes, at Dhodaula in Faridabad, Harayana, and Rs 14 crore as its working capital requirement.

The plan also covers setting up of a 60:40 joint venture with an Italian firm, Tigieffe SRL, AEC CMD Vijay Agarwal disclosed.

''The separate joint venture company will be located at Dhodaula in Faridabad'' he said, adding that the AEC would invest Rs 7 crore for setting up a corporate office and R&D centre.

AEC's issue will remain open from September 1 to 7. The net issue would constitute 25.03 per cent of the fully diluted post issue capital of the company. Karvy Investirs Services Ltd and UTi Securities Ltd are the Book Runners-Cum-Lead Managers for the issue and Karvy Computershare Pvt Ltd is the registrar.

The company has not opted for grading of this issue and the shares are proposed to be listed on BSE and NSE.

UNI VJ CS DS1655