Ampere Vehicles, the electric mobility subsidiary of Greaves Cotton, is acquiring a 74 per cent stake in e-rickshaw firm Bestway Agencies, per an announcement.
Greaves Cotton is a Mumbai-headquartered engineering company that manufactures engines and heavy equipment.
The acquisition will help spruce up Ampere’s expansion plans as it carves out its growth path in this fast disrupting segment in India and become an integrated last-mile e-mobility player.
Established in 2004, Bestway sells a range of e-rickshaws, thereby catering to the mass market passenger segment. It owns and operates the ELE brand.
The transaction is expected to close by the end of July. Going forward, next year April, Ampere Vehicles plans to acquire the remaining 26 per cent stake in Bestway.
“With the acquisition of Bestway, Ampere has now embarked on a new journey to provide clean, safe and sustainable shared mobility solutions through e-3wheeler and become a leading player in the country’s EV ecosystem,” said Ampere Vehicles Chairman B V R Subbu.
E-rickshaw is one of the prominent categories of EVs in India. Greaves Cotton’s interest in the sector highlights how traditional manufacturing companies are willing to bet big on it.
In 2018, Greaves had bought Ampere from a slew bunch of investors such as Tata Sons chairman emeritus Ratan Tata and Infosys co-founder Kris Gopalakrishnan – both of them had invested in the company in 2015. Gopalakrishnan, however, pumped in money yet again the following year.
Amongst other transactions in the sector, Indian two-wheeler manufacturer Hero MotoCorp Ltd has invested Ather Energy Pvt. Ltd, while TVS Motor has backed Ultraviolette Automotive Pvt. Ltd.