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Pune , Nov. 10

TO increase its revenues from exports, the Pune-based Kirloskar Brothers Ltd (KBL), has acquired certain assets and businesses of the UK-based SPP Pumps Ltd, a part of Thyssen Bornemiscza Group.

Talking to presspersons the Chairman and Managing Director of Kirloskar Brothers Ltd (KBL), Mr Sanjay Kirloskar, said the acquisition has gone in for a consideration of close to £7 million. KBL had made a down payment of £2 million and the rest had been pooled in by the Export Import Bank of India (EXIM) and the Bank of India.

Regarding SPP operations, he said the company sold pumping packages in a variety of market segments such as construction, irrigation, fire fighting and water supply and sewage.

With its headquarters in Reading and factory in Coleford, SPP has a dominant market share in the UK fire-fighting market and currently supplies engineered fire fighting pump packages in the oil fields of Central Asia. It is a player in the West Asia markets for the water supply, sewage and the oil field sectors.

Mr Kirloskar, looking back at the acquisition said KBL has had a 30-year relationship with SPP for supply of components required for pump manufacturing.

Initially, in 1973 SPP signed an agreement with KBL for supply of castings and components for SPP designed pumps. Over the years KBL has supplied SPP with components for hundreds of thousands of such pumps, in addition to supplying a large number of the same pumps around the world.

Mr Kirloskar said in 1980s, KBL and SPP had worked on the joint development of a new range of split casing pumps for world markets. The pumps were jointly designed and manufacturing facilities were augmented at the Kirloskarvadi plant. Export market for these pumps include the US, S-E Asia and Europe.

KBL's export business constitutes about 18 per cent of its turnover, he said. He noted that the aim was to look at more sourcing of components such as engines and valves.

He noted that the 1990s had seen the better days of SPP with its turnover touching £45 million and said, "With the crash of the S-E Asian markets, the company saw gloom." He noted that during the last fiscal (year ending November 2002), the company had made a small loss but official sources said SPP Pumps registered sales revenue of £27 million in 2002.

Asked about the management stand, Mr Kirloskar said even after the acquisition, SPP Pumps Ltd would be run as an independent company. Mr Owen Shevlin, the former Managing Director of SPP, has been appointed as the Managing Director.

Mr A.R. Sathe, Finance Vice-President of KBL would be on the board of SPP and noted that KBL has 97.5 per cent share in SPP and 2.5 per cent is held by Mr Shevlin "so that he feels he also owns the business,'' he said.

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