London, February 8:

Indian companies are increasingly looking to acquire British firms in the automobiles, engineering design, IT, pharmaceuticals, consumer products and chemicals sectors, a leading consultancy firm has said.

Clearwater Corporate Finance has said it is working with several Indian firms looking to make acquisitions in Britain. Indian companies ‘on the hu-nt for deals’ reportedly include pharmaceutical concern Ranbaxy Labs and the Anand Group. Representati-ves of Clearwater, which has offices in Birmingham, London, Manchester and Nottingham, visited New Delhi and attended presentations made by Indian businesses. Delegates also visited an Indian automotive show.

Clearwater Birmingham partner Andy Moore said, “The UK is a prime target for Indian businesses and we will now be approaching potential target companies.” Other Indian firms looking to make British acquisitions reportedly include the textiles group headed by Sanjay Dalmia, consumer products focused Godrej, which recently acquired Keyline Brands in Britain, United Phosphorous, an agrochemicals business, and commercial vehicle major Mahindra & Mahindra, which owns Stokes Forgings plus operations in Walsall, Dudley and Brierley Hill. Peter Church, managing director of Indian IMAP member Asean Focus Group, said, “We have been following the Asian economies for a few decades. Asia holds immense

potential for the kind of deals that IMAP focuses on. The International Network of M&A Partners (IMAP) is a global partnership of leading Merger & Acquisition Advisory firms. Asean Focus Group is a member of IMAP.

“India stands out in particular — it’s a deal-making country, is hungry to globalise and follows accounting and business practices in line with international standards.” Recent deals involving Western hemisphere and Indian businesses reportedly include the 80 million pounds acquisition by Indian tea manufacturer Apeejay Surrendra group of Typhoo Tea from the Britain-based Premier Foods.

Satyam Computer Services, the Indian IT solutions and software developer, purchased British software consultancy Citisoft while Crisil, the Indian credit rating services business, acquired Anglo-American equity research company Irevna.