Raymond Acquires Ring Plus Aqua(pic)

Raymond Ltd. (India) has acquired controlling interest in Ring Plus Aqua Ltd. (India), parent of Aqua Bearings, for 210 million Rupees (USD $4.8 million). Ring Plus Aqua was formed in 1997 when Ring Gears India Ltd. merged with Aqua Bearings Ltd. Aqua Bearings is now the Shaft Bearings Division of Ring Plus Aqua. Aqua is a key manufacturer of automotive-size integral shaft water pump bearing assemblies. In its 3,000 square meter plant, the division can produce 3 million water pump bearings per year, with shaft diameters from 24mm through 55 mm. An integral shaft water pump bearing has the shaft as the inner race and the outer race is pressed into the pump housing. Both ball / ball and ball / roller designs are popular, although ball / roller tend toward more heavy-duty applications. 1. Aqua's customers are spread across the OEM and rebuilder markets in India, the U.S., Europe, Taiwan and Thailand. Customers include Ashok Leyland, Tata Motors, Swaraj Mazda, Mahindra & Mahindra, International Tractors, GM Chevrolet, and Maruti Udog. Other Ring Plus Aqua divisions produce flywheel starter ring gears, ring blanks, automatic transmission flex plates, and profile-formed sheet metal pulleys. Overall, Ring Plus Aqua had sales of 633 million Rupees ($14.6 million) in 2004. The water pump bearing plant is largely vertically integrated. It takes in steel tube and bar stock, rolling elements, retainers, seals and grease. Shafts and outers are turned, then shafts are induction hardened while outers are furnace heat treated, followed by centerless grinding and assembly. Raymond, publicly traded on the Bombay Stock Exchange, is a diversified industrial manufacturer. Its primary industrial products are files, a sector where it leads the world, The acquisition is being made through Raymond's Scissors Engineering Products subsidiary. H. Sunder, Raymond's VP of Finance, said, "We have a very strong engineering business and were looking to grow the business; but the files business isn't growing as quickly, whereas the auto components industry is growing strongly." Raymond Chairman and Managing Director, Hari Singhania, said, "The Group's strategy is to become a key player in the Indian engineering industry which has an India advantage and in which the group already has a global presence through its existing engineering files and tools division. This acquisition will enable the group to have a ready platform to capture the immense opportunity emerging in the Indian auto components industry."