HNG scouting for acquisitions in Africa, Middle-East

Hindusthan National Glass and Industries (HNG), is scouting for overseas acquisitions, especially in Africa and the Middle-East and hopes to seal a few by mid-2010, a senior company official said.

"We have shortlisted two to three major players in Africa and the Middle-East and plan to seal a few acquisitions by early next fiscal," HNG's Vice-President (Marketing), Vinay Saran, said here.

The deal size could be in the range of Rs 300-400 crore, Saran said, adding that HNG was eyeing companies with a production capacity of 300 tonnes per day (tpd).

He, however, declined to reveal further details. HNG, India's largest manufacturer of container glass, also plans to set up a greenfield project for flint glass at an investment of around Rs 500 crore over the next 18 months, Saran said.

"We will be setting up a manufacturing unit for flint glass with a capacity of 350-400 tpd and have already identified a few sites in south India for setting up the plant. The demand for flint glass here is more," he said.

The company already has six glass plants with 11 furnaces with a production capacity of 2,600 tpd and is the largest manufacturer of flint, amber and green glasses that cater to the needs of the alcohol, food and beverage, and pharmaceutical industries. Presently, HNG's focus was on consolidation, he said, adding that presently the company enjoyed a 60 per cent market share.

In Q2 FY10, HNG posted a profit of Rs 40.30 crore, up 45 per cent from the Rs 27 crore in the year-ago period. Its net sales in the reporting quarter stood at Rs 301.66 crore. HNG, which clocked an income of Rs 1,500 crore last fiscal, is targeting a 15 per cent growth this fiscal, Saran said.