Date:19/11/2005 URL: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2005/11/19/stories/2005111903140200.htm

Back Triveni likely to hive off engg unit

M. Ramesh

Chennai , Nov. 18

THE Red Herring Prospectus of Triveni Engineering & Industries Ltd for the company's public issue which opened Friday mentions this `risk factor': "We may undertake acquisitions or investments or strategic relationships or divestments in the future which may pose management and integration challenges."

When requested to elaborate on this, the company's Chairman and Managing Director, Mr Dhruv Sawhney, declined to comment, because SEBI rules bar company executives from making futuristic statements, especially when a public offering is on.

However, according to industry sources, Triveni's engineering division, which manufactures turbines and gear boxes, could be spun off into a separate company, perhaps with an overseas partner.

"I cannot comment on that," Mr Sawhney said, when pointedly asked if the engineering division would be hived off.

However, in the course of the conversation, he did mention that there were many acquisition opportunities in Europe and the US. Triveni's engineering division is sitting on an order book of Rs 311 crore (as of October 11). The orders are executable over the next 12 months. In the first six months of the current year, the division's sales amounted to Rs 133 crore, compared with Rs 164 crore for the full year 2004-05.