Legrand buys Numeric Power’s UPS business

Legrand, the Limoges, France-based €3.9 billion firm, bought the uninterrupted power supply (UPS) business of Numeric Power Systems for Rs837 crore.

The Numeric board approved the transaction for the carved-out vertical on Friday, which contributed 90% of its revenues.

The deal gives Legrand access to a Rs3,000 crore market in India that is growing at 15% annually, driven by the healthcare and financial segments.

The financial sector alone racked up 30% of Numeric’s revenues last fiscal.

This is the second major acquisition by Legrand in India, after it bought the switchgear division of Indo Asian Fusegear Ltd for `600 crore in 2010.

Numeric has 20% market share and is present in three business segments - green energy, which includes solar business; foundries, and thirdly UPS.

R Chellapan, managing director, Numeric, said, Legrand is major player in turnkey projects and all its UPS requirements from now will be met by Numeric.

“The teams can work together and put more products on catalogue and sell more. Numeric will also have the opportunity to cross-sell switchgears. Numeric also gets a global platform,” he said.

Justifying his exit from the UPS business that gave 90% of Numeric’s revenues, Chellapan said he wants to focus on the ‘fast-developing’ solar and non-UPS businesses.

“We are already a major player in the country for solar rooftop installations. We are also implementing two solar power plants of 1 mw each in Tamil Nadu,” he said.

Numeric has installed UPS systems in more than 75% of ATMs in India, said an industry expert. “It is the financial sector business of Numeric which has evoked tremendous interest in many companies to acquire it. Ultimately, Legrand succeeded,” he said.
PV Krishna, director general, Association of Indian Electrical and Electronics Manufacturers Association, said multinationals are eager to be part of India’s burgeoning electrical and electronics sector.

“Buying a readymade company offers Legrand a vast network of distributors and dealers. This is the reason why Panasonic bought Anchor and Schneider bought a stake in Luminous Power Technology, another UPS player,” he said.