MUMBAI-based Gitanjali Gems Ltd, the 1,622 crore integrated diamond and jewellery manufacturing company, will be acquiring two overseas companies. It will also acquire a 50 per cent stake in the Modern India-promoted Indian Institute of Jewellery (IIJ). The company is to acquire one firm each in the US and China, and both the deals are to be signed in the first week of September.
The target companies have a combined sales figure of around $40 million. Gitanjali is likely to fund the acquisition through internal accruals and debt. It might also look at private placement. An official announcement will be made in the third week of September.

The IIJ deal is likely to be completed in October, and after that it, will look at taking IIJ to other centres. IIJ was set up in 2004 in Mumbai by the Modern India group and offers different courses on the gems and jewellery industry.

According to Assocham, Indian companies are continuing their overseas shopping spree with homegrown firms concluding 24 foreign acquisitions, out of the 58 announced in May-June. Gitanjali will invest about Rs 50 crore in its international operations this fiscal and will set up a subsidiary, Gitanjali Retail International, to oversee the international business. Gitanjali Gems is looking at setting up another special economic zone (SEZ) over less than 200 acres of area.

At present, Gitanjali Gems has some famous brands in the diamond industry, including Nakshatra, D�damas, Asmi, Gili and Ginatti. The company is also setting up an additional jewellery manufacturing unit at Andheri (Mumbai) and expanding its existing jewellery manufacturing unit at Seepz (Mumbai).