MUMBAI – A Saudi-listed company has announced the acquisition of a 32.5 percent stake in an Indian car leasing firm. United International Transportation Company (UniTrans) said in a statement that it has acquired the stake in TranzLease Holdings India Pvt Ltd. (TranzLease). It added that the deal was completed through an “infusion of growth capital" into TranzLease, which will allow the Company to drive through its ambitious growth plans. UniTrans is currently one of the largest leasing and car rental players in the GCC region and is majority owned by the Zahid group, a conglomerate based in Saudi Arabia. The strategic investment by UniTrans is part of its plans to expand into South Asia starting with India where the automobile leasing sector is experiencing exponential growth. Sheikh Abdulillah A Zahid, chairman, UniTrans, said: “Having researched the Indian car leasing market over last two years, we identified TranzLease for its excellent innovative management Team. We saw the passion and hunger in them to grow the business." UniTrans has a fleet of more than 20,000 cars in Saudi Arabia, and Zahid said he saw India as “the first choice for its international expansion". Dinesh Dhume, co-Promoter and chairman, TranzLease, added: “TranzLease had a clear strategy for its current round of funding to go with a strategic investor, who will add substantial value, rather than a private equity fund. With strong capitalisation, we now look forward to robust growth and build substantial shareholder value." Meanwhile, India's economy could expand by around 6 per cent in 2013, World Bank chief economist Kaushik Basu said Friday, attributing the current slowdown to global factors. Officially, the World Bank is slated to release global growth projections on Jan. 15. – Agencies
