Schneider Electric seeks to sell Luminous

Schneider Electric is reportedly keen to carve out and sell its power backup business, Luminous Power Technologies. Several buyout funds such as Blackstone, Carlyle, Bain, Warburg and KKR, and strategic buyers like Su Kam and Amara Raja, have been approached. Schneider has appointed investment bank Citigroup Capital Markets to help in looking for buyers of the business vertical, which is valued at $500-$600 million. The company has seven manufacturing units and 28 sales offices in India. Also, it has its presence in nearly 36 countries as per its website. As the Economic Times reports, Schneider has developed its presence in India through a ‘string of pearls’ strategy. It has acquired mass brands and also integrated them in its fold. Hence, the carve-out of one of their business verticals with 3x the value making it value accretive. The operations of the company in India is as large as the business it witnesses in its parent country France, especially after the acquisition of Larsen & Toubro’s electric and automation division. The Indian inverter battery industry in 2018 was pegged around Rs 30,000 crore and expected to grow at 10-12% annually in the next 25 years.