M&M to decide on Ssangyong bid in today’s board meeting

Mahindra & Mahindra may bid for Korean SUV maker Ssangyong. In fact, M&M will have a board meeting on Thursday where the decision regarding the bidding for Sangyong will be taken.  According to the sources, it is expected that the bid of the company could conclude within $300-450 million. It is also said that the bid may be financed through debt and internal accruals. Though the other third party bankers have not yet been decided yet but Kotak Mahindra Bank is likely to finance the debt along with the other bankers.

According to a source, the balance sheet and debt equity ratio of Mahindra and Mahindra is strong enough to raise the money on their own along with some debt component. Earlier some of the board members had expressed uneasy anticipation for the Ssangyong deal and had asked for more information on that. Before deciding against a bid, M&M had checked out Ssangyong about seven years ago. Now there are total six bidders along with M&M two of which are Renault-Nissan and the Ruia Group of Kolkata.

Its worthy mentioning here that M&M had bought out electric carmaker Reva Car Company and Renault’s stake in their joint venture Mahindra Renault, this year. By acquiring companies and expanding capacities, Anand Mahindra, M&M vice-chairman, is making a vast and expanded business empire. Some of his buyouts include Punjab Tractors and Satyam Computer- the one which was in news for its scandal. Mahindra is also looking for more opportunities in the utility vehicle market which is dominated by its models-Scorpio, Xylo and Bolero.

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