Thursday, September 20, 2007

Lord Swraj Paul's Caparo group buys Polish forgings firm Zuo Bomet; weighs investments in India

Lord Swraj Paul's Caparo group buys Polish forgings firm Zuo Bomet; weighs investments in India
19 September 2007

Mumbai: NRI industrialist Lord Swraj Paul's Caparo group has acquired a medium-sized Polish company producing a range of forgings for the ship building industry, even as the group announced plans for further investments in India.

"Caparo Plc is pleased to announce the purchase of Zuo Bomet SA, Barlinek, Poland from the Agencja Rozwoju Przemyslu SA and Korporacja Polskie Stocznie SA," the group said in a statement.

Bornet will form part of the Caparo Forging group of companies and will be owned by the UK company, Caparo Engineering Limited.

Caparo group chairman and NRI industrialist Lord Swraj Paul, meanwhile, will take stock of the operations of the group's automobile plants and assess further investment prospects in India during a fortnight-long visit to the country beginning Friday.

Lord Paul will also attend the inauguration of the 120-acre Caparo Industrial Complex at Sriperumbudur in Tamil Nadu on October 4.

He will inaugurate the newly set up Caparo School of Excellence in Manufacturing and Materials Technology in Jalandhar, his birthplace.

The Ambika Paul Foundation, a charitable trust, would run the School, in the name of his daughter Ambika who lost her battle with Leukaemia in 1968.

The Caparo group, run by CEO Angad Paul, younger son of Lord Paul, has $1.5 billion turnover. The company operates from over 50 sites in the UK, India, North America, Spain and Poland.

With business interests predominantly in the manufacture of steel, automotive and engineered product, the Caparo group's activities encompass materials testing services, hotels, film distribution and private equity investment.