Samil to acquire Germany-based Dr Schneider Group for over Rs 1,000 crore

Samvardhana Motherson International (Samil) on Monday said it has signed an agreement to acquire Germany-based Dr Schneider Group for Rs 1,073.5 crore as part of its diversification strategy.

This deal is expected to close in the third quarter of 2023-24 (FY24). Dr Schneider Group manufactures air vent systems, cover and trim parts, decorative systems, storage systems and fuel modules for automobiles. The overall enterprise value of this transaction is approximately EUR 118.3 million (Rs 1,073.5 crore) subject to certain actualisation.

This is Samil’s third major global acquisition in 2023. It had in February announced it was buying SAS Autosystemtechnik, which manufactures auto cockpit modules, from French company Faurecia for Rs 4,790 crore. Earlier this month, Samil had said it was purchasing 81 per cent stake in Honda Motor’s component making subsidiary Yachiyo for Rs 1,059 crore.

Samil told Business Standard that acquisitions should enable diversification —it should add either a new product or new customer or new geography — and it should be within its financial policy and in support of its customers.

Apart from the aforementioned three major global acquisitions, Samil has done seven other smaller acquisitions in India and other parts of the world in 2023.

Apart from Germany, Dr. Schneider Group has wholly-owned subsidiaries in Spain, China, the US and Poland. It went into insolvency in September 2022 due to failed operational and financial restructuring. The Group had a turnover of Rs 4,283 crore in 2022, according to Samil’s statement.

The group has about 4,500 employees across its facilities. Samil said that the group has more than 200 patents and 90 per cent of them have been developed by in-house research and development teams.

“New products with intelligent surfaces and lighting modules have been developed, while more innovative products like voice command-enabled air vents and lighting are under development at Dr. Schneider Group,” it added.

Samil is a leading supplier of polymer-based interior modules and is working closely with automobile manufacturers towards enhancing interior experience, it said. 

“There are a lot of synergies between Motherson (Samil) and Dr. Schneider. Aesthetics and interior illumination are playing an important role in the growing trend of premiumisation. With this acquisition, Motherson will also gain access to innovative electronic interior polymer components and can offer these innovations and technologies to other emerging countries and to medium segment customers by leveraging its existing global footprints and customer relationships,” it said.