Honda Motor Company, Japan’s second largest auto maker, says it is evaluating proposals for a deal which could even see it exiting from its joint venture with the Munjals of the Hero Group in Hero Honda, now the world’s biggest two-wheeler manufacturing company.
The proposal was made by the Munjals to Honda Motor. The latter’s technology licensing agreement for the JV is to end only in 2014. Honda Motor has 26 per cent stake in Hero Honda. The Munjals, with individual stakes and through a couple of investment companies, hold 26.21 per cent. They have reportedly shown interest in buying a direct six per cent stake from Honda in the company.
According to sources, senior executives from Honda Motor had flown to New Delhi last month to meet the Munjal family and discuss the proposed deal. In an interview last week to Australia’s Sydney Morning Herald, Tatsuhiro Oyama, senior managing director, Honda Motor Company, said, “The (Munjal) family has its own intentions; we are considering them.”
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