This comes as Lava is preparing to file for an initial public offering (IPO)
Indian smartphone brand Lava International has announced in a DRHP that it has acquired Panama-based handsets brand B Mobile for about $50 million (Rs 375 crore).
Additionally, the company has also signed a licensing deal with Lenovo-owned Motorola to launch Moto-brand feature phones in India as well as globally.
“…our Company recently acquired 100 per cent of the equity share capital in China Bird CentroAmerica S.A on September 16, 2021 for a consideration of $50.54 million pursuant to the share swap agreement dated August 4, 2021,” Lava said in the DRHP.
This comes as Lava is preparing to file for an initial public offering (IPO).
Lava International plans to raise Rs 1,400 crore – Rs 1,500 crore via the IPO, the draft prospectus filed with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) showed.
As per an Economic Times report, the move to acquire an international devices company and the licensing agreement is intended to establish better control over its supply chain in terms of pricing.
B Mobile sells 20 different products including feature phones, smartphones and other wireless devices in the Latin American market through a distribution network consisting of mobile carriers, retailers and local distributors.
The publication further reported while citing a close source of the company, “Lava has to ensure that it has a solid supply chain, hence it is doing partnerships which can increase volumes, resulting in better pricing. Lava wants to make both upstream and downstream supply chains… The plan is to amalgamate small global companies into Lava through deep partnerships. This is the strategy going forward.”
The acquisition, Lava said, will provide access to an established market and consumer base in 31 Latin American countries and allow it to benefit from the “immense growth of mobile handset market in Latin America.”
“We also intend to continue to explore other acquisition targets to further our business and geographic presence,” it added.
Lava is among the Indian companies approved by the government under its Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme to boost the manufacture of local handsets and IT hardware as well as exports.
