BIC, Clearwater, Fla., has bought a majority stake in Cello Pens, India’s largest manufacturer and distributor of writing instruments. According to Forbes, BIC acquired a 60 percent stake in Cello Pens from the Rathod family for $82 million.
In March 2009, BIC had taken a 40 percent stake in six of Cello Pens’ seven entities for $77 million. The agreement was that BIC would acquire the seventh entity in a year, but in 2010 Cello Pens wanted to terminate the contract, and the companies went into arbitration. This week, BIC completed the deal.
Cello Pens manufactures products, such as pens, pencils, and highlighters. The company, based in Mumbai, has facilities in Africa, the Middle East and other Asian countries.
“Moving to 100 percent ownership in Cello Pens is an opportunity to reinforce our position as India’s No. 1 writing instrument brand and to further BIC’s development in Asia,” Bruno Bich, BIC’s chairman of the board, told Forbes. “We are confident in Cello Pens’ multicultural management team’s abilities to leverage the strong asset that is the Cello brand, driving toward strong mid- and long-term growth potential.”
For more information on BIC, visit www.bicworld.com.
