General Cable Corporation (NYSE:BGC) announced today that it will
form two joint venture companies in India with the Plaza Cable Group
of Companies. The ventures, headquartered in New Delhi, will
incorporate all of Plaza's existing wire and cable assets. Plaza, with
annual revenues of approximately $25 million, currently manufactures
low and medium voltage energy and construction cables for the Indian
market. When completed, General Cable will hold a majority interest in
both companies with the remaining interest held by the current owners.
The Company expects to use available cash to fund both the initial
purchase price and any required short-term capital investments. The
energy cable venture is effective today, while the construction cable
venture is expected to be completed during the second quarter. Over
the next two years the company plans to invest up to $40 million to
expand cable production of low, medium and high voltage electric
utility products.
"We have worked hard to create the optimal entry strategy for the
Indian market and believe the combination of Plaza's strong brand and
business network coupled with our technical resources and management
expertise provides us the best possible platform to grow our business
in India," said Campbell Whyte, President and Chief Executive Officer,
General Cable Asia Pacific. "India's energy cable market is expected
to continue to grow in the 7%-8% range over the next several years.
With an experienced local management team led by Aviral Garg, General
Cable's India Country Manager, we will significantly expand current
production capabilities and capacity to serve this growing market for
energy infrastructure and construction cables in India," Whyte
concluded.
"This transaction, along with the recent acquisition in China,
further our strategy of global expansion into economies that are
building (or rebuilding) their energy infrastructure," said Gregory B.
Kenny, President and Chief Executive Officer of General Cable. "We
have ambitious plans for further growth in India and expect to quickly
become a leading supplier in the Indian market. We continue to
actively seek additional acquisition opportunities to grow our
position in this strategically important market," Kenny concluded.
With nearly $3.7 billion of annual revenues and over 8,000
employees, General Cable is a global leader in the development,
design, manufacture, marketing and distribution of copper, aluminum
and fiber optic wire and cable products for the energy, industrial,
and communications markets. Visit our website at www.generalcable.com.
Certain statements in this press release, including without
limitation, statements regarding future financial results and
performance, plans and objectives, capital expenditures and the
Company's or management's beliefs, expectations or opinions, are
forward-looking statements. Actual results may differ materially from
those statements as a result of factors, risks and uncertainties over
which the Company has no control. Such factors are more fully
discussed in the Company's Report on Form 10-K filed with the
Securities and Exchange Commission on March 1, 2007, as well as any
current and periodic reports filed with the Commission. The Company
undertakes no obligation to release publicly the result of any
revisions to these forward-looking statements that may be made to
reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect
the occurrence of unanticipated events.
