A top corporate official announced on Sunday that the Italian government and a private equity firm located in the UAE had acquired about 44% of the completely owned subsidiary Firema SpA of Titagarh Wagons.
According to him, the business underwent a “recapitalization of Euro 20 million through fresh equity infusion,” bringing the total capital to Euro 33 million.
According to a company spokesperson, Invitalia, the Italian government’s investment promotion agency, invested Euro 10 million for a 30.30 percent interest, and UAE-based PE firm Hawk Eye DMCC paid Euro 4.5 million for a 13.64 percent stake.
A Titagarh Group company contributed the remaining Euro 5.5 million.
Umesh Chowdhary, vice chairman and managing director of Titagarh Wagons, said to PTI, “The recapitalisation of Euro 20 million provides a fresh lease of life for the Italian company, which will now be able to turn around and tap huge railway opportunities with branding and strategic value addition by Invitalia.”
2015 saw the acquisition of the European railroad projects being carried out by the Italian company Firema by the Titagarh Group, a company located in Kolkata.
He said that this funding will help Firema expand its operations.
According to Chowdhary, the recapitalization will also assist the business in achieving its goal of producing 20 EMU coaches per month and turning into a high-quality maker of train coaches for Europe.
According to the official, Titagarh Wagons’ ownership in Firema SpA is reduced to 49.7% as a result of the recapitalization, and as a result, Titagarh Firema SpA is no longer a subsidiary of the Indian engineering firm.
According to him, Shivalik Mercantile, a different Titagarh promoters’ company, would own 6.36 percent of the Italian business.
As a result, the consortium would own more than 56% of Titagarh Firema SpA.
According to a corporate spokesman, the Italian company, which had a loss of almost 9 million euros in the previous fiscal year, is anticipated to have positive EBITDA (profits before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation) this year.
Currently, Firema has a solid order book of 500 million euros, with completion anticipated in the following four to five years.
