French stationary major BIC has fully acquired Cello Pens, the largest Indian manufacturer of writing instruments, for Rs 540 crore.
"...Cello Group has sold to BIC its remaining equity participation in Cello Pens, allowing BIC to increase its stake in Cello Pens to 100 per cent for an amount of Rs 540 crore (approximately euro 74 million)," BIC Group said. The deal, first announced in January 2009, will help accelerate Cello Pens' growth in India and support its integration within the BIC Stationery Category, the statement added. "We are confident in Cello Pens' multicultural management team's abilities to leverage the strong asset that is the Cello brand, driving toward strong mid and long term growth potential," BIC chairman Bruno Bich said.
According to reports, it was originally a Rs 790 crore deal which involved the French company taking a 40 per cent stake in the Indian firm and then raising it. The deal, however, went into rough weather with a legal fight between Cello group and BIC and had gone into international arbitration.
