Hinduja group acquires US based- Houghton Int'l for $1bn

The Hinduja group has done some christmas shopping for a whopping 1 billion dollars. Gulf Oil which is owned by the Hinduja group, has acquired US based Houghton International. This will make them the ninth largest in the lubricant space, reports CNBC-TV18's Sajeet Manghat.

This acquisition has been done through debt and equity. The debt comprised 70 percent and 30 percent. This will eventually be infused into Houghton International to work better. Houghton International is a niche player, which is basically into metal working fluids. In the USD 6 billion market, it has a share of 12 percent and that's where Hinduja Group plans to leverage.

It has 12 manufacturing facilities spread over 10 countries. This would enable Hinduja Group to increase its revenues from global markets. Houghton International has a 12 months sale of USD 858 million. It also has earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) of USD 132 million. The Gulf Oil today has consolidated sales of nearly Rs 1,300 crore. So that's where the big picture is going to be come in.

It is not going to be an easy job for Hinduja Group because Houghton is in markets. Thes markets are traditionally weak in terms of economic activity, especially Europe, North America and Asia. This means that the improvement in the markets margins would be very modest. However, from the Hindujas point of view the synergies will work perfectly. They can leverage the partnerships and the facilities in across 10 countries. They can also offer Houghton access to new markets in Asia, especially India.