Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) is reportedly set to buy Pininfarina, the renowned Italian auto design house. A Bloomberg report suggests that negotiations are at the final stages.

Pininfarina has to its credit the design of a number of Ferrari sports cars (Ferrari has collaborated with the Italian design house for over 60 years). It was most recently in the news at the reveal of the limited edition Ferrari Sergio roadster at the Geneva Motor Show in March, in celebration of 85 years of Pininfarina and the show itself.

Pininfarina, which was set up in 1930 and is a listed company on the Stock Exchange in Italy since 1986, has offices in Italy, Germany, China and the United States. Its automotive customers include Ferrari, Alfa Romeo, BMW and Toyota.

Autocar Professional has learnt that there were inputs from Pininfarina in M&M’s upcoming compact UV (codenamed U301) which will be pitched at the Ford EcoSport. The compact UV is one of seven models that will make their debut in the current year.

If the deal goes through, it will be the Mahindra Group’s second acquisition in the past 8-10 months. Last year, it bought out Peugeot MotoCycles for about Rs 114 crore for a 51 percent stake. The Group is also in the running for a stake in SAAB-maker NEVS. Four years ago, the company had bought out Italy’s Engines Engineering SRL.