Global investment firm Carlyle has completed the acquisition of a controlling stake in Highway Industries Limited and Roop Automotives Limited through a proprietary and exclusive transaction. Equity for the investment will come from investment funds affiliated with Carlyle Asia Partners ( CAP ).

Highway and Roop ( together referred to as “the platform” ) are among the leading players in manufacturing forged and precision-machined components, steering system assemblies, transmissions, and other powertrain applications for electric, hybrid, and internal combustion engine powered vehicles.

Over the past 30 years, the platform has built a comprehensive range of over 1,500 products, an extensive global clientele of 55 customers across 17 countries, and an expansive manufacturing footprint of 12 plants and 14 international warehouses. Carlyle intends to deepen its investments in the auto components space and will seek to add synergistic assets to the platform.

The founders of Highway and Roop will continue to hold stakes in the platform, underscoring their commitment to the long-term success of the companies. Carlyle will work with Highway and Roop to help them leverage operating synergies and create capabilities and capacities, to deliver enhanced value for their customers, the company says.

“We believe India offers a tremendous opportunity in the advanced manufacturing sector, particularly in the auto components supply chain for both domestic and export markets,” says Amit Jain, managing director and head of Carlyle India Advisors.

“In our view, this provides a large-scale opportunity for the platform. We believe creating scale with consolidation will enable investments in technology, talent and systems, which will allow the platform to deliver an enhanced value proposition for its customers.”

Roop managing director Mohit Oswal will serve as non-executive chairperson of the board for the platform. Mark Blaufuss, operating executive at Carlyle with over 30 years of leadership experience in the automotive and manufacturing sectors, and Kishore Saletore, former executive director and group CFO at Bharat Forge Limited, with over three decades of diverse industry experience, will join the platform’s board of directors.

KPMG, Trilegal, Kotak and Deloitte acted as advisers to Carlyle for the transaction. Singhi Advisors and KPMG acted as the financial advisers to Highway and Roop shareholders, respectively.

Carlyle’s buyout funds, including Carlyle Asia Partners, have deep experience investing in the advanced manufacturing and industrial sector, and have invested over US$32 billion of equity in over 125 deals globally as of December 31 2024, with approximately US$1.1 billion of this in Asia.