21 April 2006: PARRYWARE Glamouroom, the newly floated 50:50 joint venture of EID Parry and Spanish ceramic company Roca, is aiming to reinforce its brand leadership position in domestic market, besides getting a larger footprint in the international market using Roca's distribution networks.

Pegging itself on the heightened construction activities across the country, the venture will bring to the table a range of premium lifestyle ceramic products with contemporary designs and superior technology." India is one of the key emerging markets that the world is noticing today. Our foray into the Indian market with the trusted name of Parryware will rapidly strengthen out position as the numero uno player in the country," Domingo Colomo, managing director of Roca told reporters here in Thursday.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr A Vellayan, vice-chairman, EID Parry India said the turnover of Parryware division has grown by 29 per cent to Rs.250 crore in the year ended March 31, 2006.The JV will bring the 'best cultural and technical synergy" into the products. "Parryware has a market share of around 42 per cent in the organised sector, with taps alone accounting for 5 per cent in the south. Our tie-up with Roca will bring the design advantage, transforming bathrooms into 'glamourooms' and we intend to take our market share to 44 per cent by the end of this year"' he said.

The Rs.8,500 crore turnover Roca, which has presence in 80 countries across the world, will also be represented at the board level with three members, while Mr. A Vellayan wil be the chairman of ht joint venture.

The valuation of the deal has been put at Euro 100 million. Roca has pumped in Euro 50 million into the joint venture.

Noting that Roca's R&D in Barcelona will support EID Parry in design enhancement, he said the company's vast sales network will give it an international presence. The joint venture will also market the premium sanitary ware Laufen in India besides introducing at least 20 to 25 new products every year. "Our new products contribute as much as 32 per cent of our growth. We have also opened a 24/7 service centre in 14 metros as a part of our exercise to bring us closer t our consumers", Mr. K E Ranganathan, CEO, Parryware said, adding the company had registered an yield improvement of 3.25 million pieces as compared to 2.7 million pieces last year. He said the company's project at Perundurai will go on stream by next month.