LONDON: Expanding its presence in the US, NRI industrialist Lord Swraj Paul-led Caparo Group plans to build an integrated commercial complex – comprising a hotel, offices, retail outlets and a food court – under a USD 340 million redevelopment project in St Louis.
Bull Moose, a US-based maker of metal tubes and part of the Lord Paul-led British business conglomerate, will have a significant ownership stake in the project. The redevelopment of what formerly used to be a foundry of automotive component major Federal Mogul is being done by Lawrence Group.
City Foundry project, in the centre of the city, would also house new headquarters for Bull Moose, which already jointly owns Missouri Theatre building with Lawrence Group.
The environment cleanup work on the 14-acre project, cost for which has been pegged at USD 340 million (Rs 2,260 crore), has been just launched by Lawrence Group, whose chief Steve Smith praised Paul for investing in the project.
“This new investment by Lord Paul represents our continued confidence in St Louis as well as our belief in the exciting vision laid out by Steve Smith for the City Foundry development,” Bull Moose CEO Michael Blatz said.
The project is expected to generate nearly 900 jobs and also trigger more development in nearby areas.
It would have 48,000 square feet of restaurant and food court space, including food stalls and full-service restaurants. There would be 124,000 square feet of office space and retail outlets across 133,000 square feet of area.
It will have parking space for over 500 cars and would also be connected to the Great Rivers Greenway trails system.
The project is said to be already generating interest from potential tenants of office spaces and food court and has already received letter of intent from some prospective users.
Battling the meltdown in UK steel sector, Caparo has been expanding into new ventures in the US and also plans to expand its India presence with a new automotive components plant.
Paul, chairman of the one-billion euro industrial conglomerate focused largely on steel products, recently took over a leading trailer manufacturer in the US.
The acquisition of XL Specialized Trailers marked the group’s entry into a new business arena.
Paul, who founded Caparo in 1968, dedicated the new plant in the US to his late son Angad, who had planned the takeover.
According to Paul, the group is looking to consolidate and diversify in the US, where it has tube making plants at seven locations, besides one steel fabrication plant and one steel warehousing and stockholding facility. . Bull Moose is a leading manufacturer of tube steel and the purchase would help it expand into other industrial manufacturing markets. It recently created a new business unit, named Bull Moose Mobility. The other existing units are Bull Moose Tube and Bull Moose Engineering.
Caparo Group, which already has 30 plants in India, is also planning to set up one more automotive components plant in the southern part of the country, according to Paul.
Caparo India, through its multiple strategic business entities offers end-to-end solutions in the design, development and manufacturing of automotive systems, assemblies, advanced composites, modules and components for automakers and engineering majors.
The major clients of the group’s Indian unit include big names like Maruti Suzuki, GM, Ford, Honda, Tata Motors, Renault-Nissan, Piaggio TAFE and JCB.
With business interests spanning across manufacturing of steel, automotive and general engineering products, Caparo has grown into a global entity and has over 40 companies operating from over 60 sites worldwide.-PTI
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