Spanish firm buys out Inalsa Appln

The Turner Morrison group has sold Inalsa Appliances, its Delhi-based home appliances business, to Spain's Taurus.

Jitendra Chauhan, general manager of Taureg Marketing Pvt Ltd, said, "Taureg Marketing, Taurus' wholly owned subsidiary in India, has acquired the Inalsa brand, the manufacturing facility at Noida and its employees." Chauhan, however, refused to divulge the price of the acquisition but sources said the deal was struck for around Rs 35 crore.

Inalsa Appliances produces food processors, mixer grinders, juicer mixer grinders, oven toaster grillers, sandwich snack toasters, cook tops, auto electric cookers and water heaters. Inalsa entered the field of home appliances in 1985, and has many firsts to its credit.

It was a pioneer in designing and launching food processors and was the first company to introduce home service for small appliances in India.

It was taken over by the Turner Morrison group in 1998 from the DCM Shriram group. Inalsa reported a turnover of Rs 40 crore in 2003-2004.

The acquisition gives Taurus an entry into the Indian market. The group has been expanding its presence through acquisitions, which include Mallory in Brazil and Monix in Europe.

"The immediate focus is to build the Inalsa brand and strengthen the distribution," Chauhan added.

Chauhan, a former Turner Morrison group employee for almost 11 years, worked earlier as Inalsa Appliances' director, finance. However, Ranjit Chopra, the face behind Inalsa Appliances, continues at the Turner Morrison group.

In the early 2000, the Turner Morrison group sold about a 35 per cent stake in Barista Coffee to Tata Coffee, which in turn, last week, sold its stake to the non-resident Indian businessman C Sivasakaran-promoted Sterling Infotech group. Sterling acquired majority control by picking up a 65 per cent stake from Turner Morrison in April this year.

The Kolkata-based group's other business interests are real estate, the apparel brand Lacoste and home store Arcus.

The group had almost decided to sell a majority stake in retail chain Arcus to the Kishore Biyani -controlled Pantaloon Retail (India) but the deal fell through following differences over the business model. The group recently forayed into art and set up a gallery in Singapore.