Rico Auto sells 50 percent stake to Japanese partner for Rs 495 crore

Clutch assembly maker for two- and four-wheelers in India, Rico Auto has decided to offload its 50 percent stake to Japanese partner FCC Co Ltd.

The company had formed a 50:50 joint venture in the mid-1990s and supplies clutch assemblies to Hero MotoCorp, Honda, Suzuki, Bajaj, Maruti Suzuki, Ford, GM, Nissan, Volvo, Cummins, Caterpillar and others. 

Rico Auto Industries in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange said that, as per the resolution passed by the Board of Rico Auto, it has approved the divestment of entire 50 percent stake of the company in FCC Rico Ltd, a joint venture company between FCC Co Ltd Japan for Rs 495 crore.

According to the statement the sale, will be completed subject to completion of customary conditions precedent and such other regulatory conditions as may be required to be complied with as applicable.

Rico Auto, which was incorporated in 1984-85 with an aluminum HPDC plant set up in Dharuhera, 40km from Delhi, with technical tie-up with FCC Japan for manufacturing of clutch assemblies, set up a second manufacturing plant in Gurgaon in 2000. 

In 2007 the company has formed a JV with Continental Automotive Systems for hydraulic brakes and  another JV with JINFEI of China for aluminium wheels for two-wheelers.