Hero MotoCorp has announced that it has bought a 17 percent stake in its Colombian joint venture through its wholly-owned subsidiary HMCL Netherlands, from its JV partner Woven Holdings, at a cost of Rs 66 crore.

In September 2015, Hero started operations in Colombia. At the time, this plant was Hero’s fifth manufacturing facility, in addition to four assembly plants in India. This facility is meant to act as a hub for sales to the Andean countries and can also be a strategic base for shipping to North American markets such as Mexico and the US. Spread over 17 acres at the Parque Sur free trade zone at Villa Rica in the state of Cauca, about 500km south-west of Bogota, the plant has production capacity of 80,000 units per annum.

In 2014, Hero MotoCorp through its wholly-owned subsidiary HMCL Netherlands entered into a JV and certain ancillary agreements for sale, distribution and marketing of its products in the Colombian market. Following this the company begin operations with its JV partner Woven Holdings (49%) as HMCL Colombia, where it held 51 percent stake.

According to Hero MotoCorp, the investment into the existing subsidiary is to further strengthen its presence in the overseas market, especially in the North American market. With today’s announcement, the company has increased its shareholding in the company by 17 percent to have an effective 68 percent stake in HMCL Colombia.