The Hindu : Business : GE Equipment Services picks up stake in Titagarh

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jul 24, 2007
ePaper

Business

Business

GE Equipment Services picks up stake in Titagarh

Special Correspondent

First equity investment by GE in the transport sector

— PHOTO: RAJEEV BHATT

JOINING FORCES: Dhananjay (Dan) Nalawade (left), President and CEO, GE Equipment Services India, and Umesh Chowdhary, Managing Director, Titagarh Wagons, at a press conference in New Delhi on Monday.

NEW DELHI: GE Equipment Services, a global provider of financing, maintenance and asset intelligence services for transportation assets and Titagarh Wagons Ltd., a leading railway wagon manufacturer in India, on Monday announced that they had formed a strategic relationship to advance the country’s rail infrastructure.

In establishing the relationship, Equipment Services and GE Commercial Finance made an investment in Titagarh, receiving 15 per cent of its equity. As a result, Equipment Services will have preferred access to Titagarh-manufactured wagons, as railcars are known in India, which it will lease to the Indian Railways and private shippers.

Equipment Services will also become the preferred provider of vendor financing for Titagarh.

With GE’s investment, Titagarh plans to step up the pace of manufacturing and make more wagons available. Titagarh and GE will also explore a variety of ways to improve rail transport, including incorporating GE’s forthcoming VeriWise RAIL asset management technology in the manufacture of future wagons.

PTI reports:

GEES India President Dhananjay Nalawade told reporters here that this was the first equity investment by GE in the Indian transport sector and was aimed at tapping the vast potential of the country’s logistics business.

“Equipment Services is the owner and lessor of more than 200,000 rail wagons and inter-modal assets in North America and Europe, and our domain expertise in rail and other forms of transport allows us to bring a wide range of best practices from our various global platforms to India,” he said. TWL Managing Director Umesh Chowdhary said the company planned to dilute about 12-15 per cent equity through a proposed pubic offer through which it expected to mop up about Rs. 100 crore.

TWL had already filed the draft prospectus with the Securities and Exchange Board of India for its public offer but had to withdraw the proposal because of its deal with GE, Mr. Chowdhary said.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Business

News Update

Stories in this Section