Steelmaker JFE Holdings Inc. said Tuesday it will buy 48 billion rupees (¥89.13 billion) worth of shares in India's JSW Steel Ltd., extending a partnership to tap rising automobile demand.
JFE's steel unit will acquire securities convertible into a 14.99 percent stake in JSW Steel, the Tokyo-based company said on its Web site.
JFE and larger rival Nippon Steel Corp. are teaming up with mills in India to sell value-added automotive steel to meet demand for cars there as their home market stagnates.
JFE in November agreed to cooperate with JSW Steel, India's third-largest steelmaker, on automobile steel.
"The big steel mills globally are trying to get into the Indian market through acquisitions or by buying stakes," Goutam Chakraborty, an analyst with ICICI Securities Ltd. in Mumbai, said before Tuesday's announcements.