Leighton sells Indian stake to Welspun

Leighton Holdings announced on 29 December that its subsidiary Leighton International had reached an agreement to sell a 35 per cent share of its Indian operations to Welspun Corporation, a leading diversified Indian conglomerate.

Leighton Holdings CEO-elect David Stewart clarified this as a move to build a ‘strategic partnership’ to capitalise on huge Indian infrastructure opportunities.

“We have been working successfully in India for 7 years and see the transaction as very important in taking our Indian business to the next stage of its development. Having a local partner clearly provides greater access to the market, particularly when Welspun has such a complementary portfolio of businesses,” said Mr Stewart.

Welsprun Group has a presence in infrastructure, oil and gas, steel, pipes and textile sectors. It operates in over 50 countries and last year had revenues totalling USD 1.6bn.