Munsif Vengatal and Aditya Kalra.
NEW DELHI (Reuters) – India’s Tata Electronics has agreed to buy a majority stake in Taiwanese contract manufacturer Pegatron’s sole iPhone plant in India, creating a new joint venture with Tata as an Apple (NASDAQ: ) supplier. strengthens the position, two sources told Reuters.
Under the deal, announced internally last week, Tata will hold 60 percent and run day-to-day operations under the joint venture, while Pegatron will hold the rest and provide technical support, two of the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said. Declined to disclose because details are not yet public. .
The sources did not specify the financials of the deal.
Tata declined to comment, while Apple and Pigtron did not respond to questions from Reuters on Sunday.
Reuters first reported in April that Pegatron was backed by Apple and was in advanced talks to sell its sole iPhone plant in India to Tata, the Taiwanese firm’s Apple partner. Marked on the latest scale of Dari.
Apple is increasingly seeking to diversify its supply chain beyond China amid geopolitical tensions between Beijing and Washington. For India’s Tata, the Chennai Pegatron plant will bolster its iPhone manufacturing plans.
Tata is one of India’s largest conglomerates and is rapidly expanding into iPhone manufacturing, rivaling the only iPhone contract manufacturer operating in India. Foxconn (SS:).
The deal closure was announced internally at the iPhone plant on Friday, the first source said.
Both companies plan to file for Competition Commission of India (CCI) approval in the coming days, the second source said.
Tata already operates an iPhone assembly plant in the southern state of Karnataka, which it took over from Taiwan’s Westron last year. It is building another in Hosur, Tamil Nadu, where it also has an iPhone component plant that was involved in a fire incident in September.
Analysts estimate that India will contribute 20-25% of total iPhone shipments this year, up from 12-14% last year.
The Tata-Pegatron plant, which has about 10,000 employees and makes 5 million iPhones annually, will be Tata’s third iPhone factory in India.
