Ravin Cables has sold majority controlling stake of 51% to the Prysmian Group for Rs 200cr valuing the company at Rs 400cr. The funds along with Prsymian's technical know-how will help Ravin Cables diversify into speciality cables.

Ravin will issue fresh shares worth Rs 100cr to Prysmian while the remaining stake will be acquired from existing shareholders like the Anil Ambani group and Tano capital.

The valuation of the company is 1.3times its revenue of Rs 310cr in FY09. Ravin posted an EBITDA of Rs36cr in the same fiscal.

Singhi Advisors was the sole advisors to the transaction.

Ravin Cables- the makers of Prime Cables, is a Pune-based low and medium voltage cable manufacturer. It has a customer base across India and other countries like Africa and Middle- East. The company has a JV with the Government of Fujairah in Power Plus Cable Co LLC. The group has a total of 355 employees in its two facilities in India and the Arab Emirates

The Karia Family own about 72% in Ravin. Post deal, Karia's stake will shrink to 49% due to the expansion in capital base. Prysmian will have the right to nominate the majority of the board members once the deal is completed.

Prysmian is an Italian cable manufacturer with operations in 38 countries and a workforce of 12000. The company had more than $7.5bn sales in 2008. Its presence in India was limited to supplying optical cable to its clients like Bharti Airtel and Vodafone. In December 2009, Prysmian acquired 100% stake in Russia's Rybinsk Elektrokabel for $16.5mn. 

The acquisition of Ravin cables has helped Prysmian enter India's $3bn cable maket.

Source: ET