Ashok Leyland, the Chennai-based flagship company of the Hinduja Group, has divested stake in its wind power arm. The company has sold 48.5 percent stake in Ashok Leyland Wind Energy Limited.
The company hasn’t revealed who the buyer (or buyers) of the stakes was.
The sale of stakes in the wind arm fetched Ashok Leyland a profit of Rs 6 crore. The company acquired the wind subsidiary in 2010. The purchase was made from the assets of Indusind Bank Ltd. Currently Ashok Leyland has 154 windmills spread across Tirunelveli and Coimbatore districts and they have a combined capacity of 37.675 MW.
The transaction has left Ashok Leyland with 11.5 percent stakes in the company against 60 percent previously.
In another deal Ashok Leyland sold its entire holding in Avia. The Czech subsidiary of the Indian truck maker is a light commercial vehicles manufacturer.
The sale has brought Ashok Leyland $10.96 million in case. It is a huge discount on the price it paid to purchase the stakes.
Ashok Leyland had acquired Avia in 2006 for $35 million.
The company has been reeling under debt and is selling non-core assets to deleverage. ALL has already managed to get its debt burden down from Rs6,280 crore in 2013 to Rs4,000 crore last August. The company achieved a debt to equity ratio of 1:1 in December.
Ajith Kumar S