Inalsa scouting for small appliance companies in South and West India

Home appliance player Inalsa is planning to acquire smaller companies in South and West India, where it is yet to establish a significant presence.

Having lost out on buying local companies such as Preethi and Maharaja Whiteline to MNCs Philips and Groupe SEB, respectively, Inalsa is still open to the idea of making acquisitions that would lead to further consolidation in the fragmented small appliances segment.

“We are still looking for small appliance companies, based in South and West India, with a turnover of about ₹150 crore, since we had lost out on acquiring companies like Preethi in the past. The funds to buy the companies will come from our parent company Taurus,” said Inalsa Home Appliances CEO Jitendra Chauhan.

Inalsa, a domestic firm, was acquired by Taurus, a Barcelona-based, $1-billion group that has small appliances as its main line of business.

“Last year, we did try to buy a sick company, but are now expecting GST to come into play before trying to make an acquisition. Small appliances as a segment has not been doing well since 2013,” he added.

The small appliance category is highly fragmented with about 20 odd organised players such as Prestige, Bajaj and Philips.

Despite having shown an inclination to enter the white goods segment, Inalsa is staying away due to intense competition and government policies. “We had started with microwaves and washing machines, but dropped out. While food processors will continue to be our core segment, we are looking at new categories such as vacuum cleaners, and may also look at the air purifier segment,” he said.

Inalsa sources 30 per cent of its brown goods from Chinese companies and may consider joint manufacturing ventures with some of them. `“We source products such as irons and toasters from Chinese companies and are discussing JVs with them,” Chauhan said.

With a sales turnover of ₹100 crore, Inalsa expects to grow at 25 per cent on the back of new products and online sales.