Mahindra seems to be on a buying spree. Last year, they bought a 51 percent stake in Peugeot and now, the company has announced the acquisition of another biggie – this time its legendary British bike maker BSA Motorcycles. This move has been in the pipeline since May last year, but now Mahindra has finally made it official. The Indian automotive major was contemplating purchasing either Norton or BSA, but in the end it decided on BSA.A recent statement from Mahindra revealed that their subsidiary, Classic Legends Pvt. Ltd. (CLPL) has purchased all of 1.2 lakh shares of BSA for a price of £28.33 per share.
This move gives CLPL all rights of the BSA Motorcycles brand and the power to market and distribute their motorcycles globally. BSA currently operates in Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, USA, Mexico and Canada, aside from its home turf in UK. The abbreviation BSA stands for Birmingham Small Arms Company. BSA commenced manufacturing of motorcycles in 1910 with the BSA 3.5bhp and soon participated in racing events. The brand tasted some success in the racing scene and was among the largest two-wheeler manufacturers in the world at one point in time. In fact, the company even owned Triumph Motorcycles for a short while. Poor management and decline of sales in the late 1950s and ‘60s led to problems in the entire BSA Group.