Officials said the new entity, Gulf Oil Corp. Ltd., will better utilize research facilities, as well as marketing, purchasing and other back office resources.
Gulf is very well established in the metros and at the district level, Corporate Communications Vice President Nina Mamnani said. IDL, because it serves mines, has extensive resources in the interior. IDL also has contracts with a lot of bulk equipment suppliers, who need lubes. We believe these businesses compliment each other and will have a lot of synergy.
Hinduja owns rights to the Gulf brand name around the world, except in the United States, Spain and Portugal. Gulf Oil India was formed in 1993, right after India opened its lubricant market, and is now the countrys second-largest private marketer, with a market share of approximately 5 percent. It is headquartered in Mumbai (Bombay) and operates a blending plant in Silvassa where it produces automotive and industrial lubes, greases and coolants.
Officials said the merged company will have a stronger financial base, with annual revenue of Rupees 4.5 billion (U.S. $93 million). Hyderabad-based IDL manufactures industrial explosives and detonators and plans to expand into the mining services industry, which India is liberalizing.
The merger, first announced in April, was accomplished by issuing two shares of Gulf stock for each share of IDL stock. Hinduja is a multinational conglomerate with operations in transportation, banking, energy, media and telecommunications and annual revenue of US$13 billion.