Date: 31st May 2011

Schneider Electric to up its share in Indian Inverter market by acquiring 74% of Luminous

Schneider Electric has announced that it has signed an agreement to acquire 74% of India's leading inverter maker Luminous Power Technologies Pvt. Ltd. Schneider says Luminous is a leading player in the approximate Euro 800 million Indian inverter and power storage market that is growing at more than 20% a year.

Luminous has around 3,000 employees in 8 different industrial sites in India and 1 in China. It has generated revenues of INR 11.0 billion (Euro 170 million) for the fiscal year ending March 2011.

As per Schneider Electric the gains in this acquisitions include:
A strong brand name in the Indian market for inverters and power storage,
A diverse portfolio that includes inverters for homes and small and medium enterprises, deep-cycle batteries, uninterruptible power supply (UPS), physical infrastructure solutions for IT & Telecom, renewable energy systems (wind, solar) and engineering design & support services,
An excellent market access to the diffused distribution network with approx. 900 distributors, and over 25,000 points of sales,
A broad customer base with 3 million existing inverter users and also an access to institutional clients, in particular government and telecom sectors,
A strong service network covering all parts of the country.

Laurent Vernerey, Executive Vice-President of Schneider Electric's IT business, commented: "This acquisition is another significant step for Schneider Electric to become a leader in new economies. The Group will further strengthen its position in India, attain critical size in the fast growing Indian inverter market and further consolidate the global leadership in its IT business. Luminous will also provide a platform to expand the inverter market into other new economies, in particular Middle East, Africa and South-East Asia".

"From a small beginning 20 years ago, Luminous Power Technologies has evolved to become a strong market leader in the inverters and power storage space. We are glad to partner with Schneider Electric. Both companies share common values and passion to provide our customers with innovative products in home electrical space. We strongly believe that our customers, business partners, employees and other stakeholders will greatly benefit from this combination in the years to come. The founders will continue to be closely associated with the future growth of the company in India and around the world" said Rakesh Malhotra, Founder and Chairman of Luminous.

The purchase price for 74% of the shares is INR 14 billion (~ € 215 million). The total net debt of the company was INR 2.4 billion (~€37 million) as of 31 March 2011, leading to an implied transaction multiple of ~16x fiscal 2011 EBITDA. The remaining 26% owned by the founders will be subject to put and call options.

Schneider had acquired the leading UPS brand American Power Conversion back in 2006.