Mumbai: Global private equity firm TPG Capital and Singapore government’s sovereign wealth fund GIC have entered the race to acquire up to 49% stake in the Indian operations of Chinese consumer durables maker Haier, four people aware of the development said. While TPG has teamed up with the Burman family, GIC is bidding along with the Goenka family of the Welspun Group, these people said.
“The first round of bidding is through. Currently, the bidders are carrying out due diligence,” one of the people cited above said, requesting anonymity.
The company has appointed investment bank Citigroup Capital Markets to find buyers for the stake. “There are various structures being discussed with various bidders,” the second person added. The deal may value the company at around $2 billion.
Global PE firm Warburg Pincus has teamed up with Sunil Mittal’s family office and Bain Capital with Puneet Dalmia to bid for a sizeable stake, the people cited above said.
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Spokespersons for Bain Capital, Citigroup Capital Markets, TPG Capital and Warburg Pincus declined comment. Emails to spokesperson for Haier India, GIC, Sunil Mittal, Dipali Goenka (Welspun Group), Burman family and the Dalmia family office remained unanswered.
Why sell?
The stake sale, likely triggered by the need for Chinese companies to be compliant with the government’s Press Note 3, will see binding bids being submitted by end of next month, the third person cited above said. According to the press note, an entity of a country sharing land border with India or where the beneficial owner of an investment is an entity of such country sharing border can invest only under government route or prior approval.
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“The deal is complicated given the PE funds bidding for the stake purchase should not have significant Chinese entities as their investors or LPs (limited partners),” the fourth person explained, adding the strategic buyers might come in as minority investors, with the PE firms investing the bulk of the capital. “The reason why they want a strategic company is that eventually, this company is likely to list and having a strategic investor as a promoter helps take the company public,” he added.
The other aspect is if Haier sells a minority stake now, at the time of IPO, it can do an offer for sale (OFS) to sell more stake, the fourth person added.
India Business
Established in 2003 in India, Haier Appliances India Pvt. Ltd (Haier India), is a subsidiary of Haier Singapore Investment Holding Pte. Ltd. It sells refrigerators, air conditioners, washing machines, LED TVs, water heaters, deep freezers, and microwave ovens to kitchen appliances, through its distribution network across the country. It has two manufacturing facilities in Pune and Greater Noida. It is the third largest consumer durables maker in India after LG and Samsung.
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As per a January 2025 report by Indian Brand Equity Foundation or IBEF, the demand for a wide range of consumer durable goods is growing as a result of the ongoing increase in disposable income and technological innovation in India. This in turn is fuelling fierce competition among the various consumer durable brands that are available across the country. India is viewed by multinational organizations as one of the primary markets from which future growth is likely to originate. The government anticipates that the Indian electronics manufacturing sector will reach US$ 300 billion by 2024-25.
