BDA advises The Weir Group PLC on the acquisition of the valves business of BDK Engineering Industries Limited

Business Development Asia LLC (“BDA”) is pleased to announce that its client, The Weir Group PLC (“Weir”), a global leader in the design, supply and ongoing service of engineering equipment and solutions for the mining, oil & gas and power & industrial sectors, has agreed to acquire the valves business of BDK Engineering Industries Limited (“BDK”) for an undisclosed consideration. Completion of transaction is conditional on tax clearance and is scheduled for early October 2010.

BDK, based in Hubli (Karnataka), India, manufactures valves for the oil & gas, petrochemical and power markets. The business had gross assets of £16.7m (INR 1.2bn) and generated sales of £20.9m (INR 1.5bn) in the year ending March 2010.

Keith Cochrane, CEO of Weir, said: “This acquisition further strengthens our emerging market footprint.   BDK’s range of valves will enhance our global customer offering and its Indian sales network will provide an additional route to market for many of our existing products.”

Commenting on the transaction, Bharat Khimji, BDK’s founder, stated: “My family has developed BDK over the last 30 years into an internationally recognised valves manufacturer. We are pleased to entrust the next stage in the growth of the business to an engineering group of Weir’s global standing. We are convinced that this is an excellent outcome for customers and employees. My sons and I look forward to continuing to play our roles in ensuring a smooth transition.”

In India, Weir has two main operations in Bangalore serving the minerals and power & industrial markets and currently employs 350 people. Weir India also has a significant engineering shared service capability providing engineering support to many Weir companies globally.

BDA acted as the exclusive financial advisor to Weir on the transaction.

BDA Transaction Team:
Andrew Huntley, Senior Managing Director, London, ahuntley@bdallc.com
Arun Bagchi, Director, Mumbai, abagchi@bdallc.com
Diwakar Mitr, Associate, Mumbai, dmitr@bdallc.com
Akhil Bheda, Analyst, Mumbai, abheda@bdallc.com

About The Weir Group PLC
The Weir Group PLC, headquartered in Scotland, is a global leader in the design, supply and ongoing service of engineering equipment and solutions for the Mining, Oil & Gas and Power & Industrial sectors.  With annual sales of £1.4bn Weir employs 9000 people and operates in over 42 countries with manufacturing facilities in North and South America, the UK, mainland Europe, Australia, South Africa, India and China. For further information about The Weir Group PLC and its businesses, please visit www.weir.co.uk

About Business Development Asia
Business Development Asia LLC (“BDA”) assists multinational corporate and financial sector clients to identify and execute acquisitions, divestments, JVs, restructuring and capital raising, in Asia and internationally. The company is headquartered in New York with offices in London, Bahrain, Mumbai, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Seoul, and Tokyo. BDA employs 60 full-time professional staff across its eight offices, supplemented by a team of senior advisors around the world. BDA’s clients include Areva, AXA Private Equity, Celestica, Clariant, DIC, Ecolab, Hercules, Kennametal, Molex, Nalco, Pfizer, Rexel, Reuters, Ryder, SigmaKalon, Sun Chemical, Tredegar, WestLB, and the British Government. Further information on BDA is available at www.bdapartners.com

For more information regarding this transaction, please contact Andrew Huntley in London on (44) 20 7182 4514 or Arun Bagchi in Mumbai on (91) 22 2643 0290