Hampsons may acquire 100% in JV with Maini Precision

To invest $20 million in India

Maini Precision Products (MPP) is looking at exiting Hampson Maini, the joint venture with UK-based $275 million Hampson Industries.

Maini Precision had entered into a joint venture with the Hampson Group during late 2004 with a 30 per cent stake, to set up an exclusive facility for the manufacture of critical precision parts in Bangalore. Hampson in the past two years has raised its stake to 94 per cent.

Gautam Maini, MD, Maini Precision declined to comment on this move, while a Hampson Group official spokesperson said they were in talks with MPP to buy them out.

"We wanted to ramp up and MPP had their own interests. However, we have an amicable partnership. With regard to the remaining stake with MPP, discussions are on and let's see how it proceeds."

However, industry sources indicate that it's just a matter of time before Hampson acquires the remaining stake.

The unit was proposed as a 100 per cent EoU and was expected to kick off production in the late 2005. The unit, however, kicked off in Bangalore a year later on Thursday. Hampson also announced that it will invest $20 million in this operations over the next five years.

Commenting on the importance of the new facility, Hampson Group chief executive, Kim Ward, said: "The new facility will become a showcase for our manufacturing and engineering expertise as well as the focal point for our strategy to provide competitive advantage to our customers. It provides us with not only a competitive cost base but also a strategic manufacturing location in its own right, from which we intend to capitalise on the burgeoning growth opportunities in the domestic Indian and Far East markets."

"The first phase of this investment will see the manufacture of high precision, close tolerance components for automotive customers, primarily for turbocharger applications," he added.

According to Hampson, this new facility has been deliberately designed in campus form to allow for modular expansion of up to a further three manufacturing units, each of approximately 50,000sft.

As part of the second phase of its investment plan, the company plans to further extend its manufacturing capabilities to produce precision and engineered components, structures and assemblies for its global aerospace customers.

Subsequent phases will be activated to increase the manufacturing capacity in the medium term as customer demand levels grow.