Bajaj to raise stake in KTM to 90%

Indian bike-building giant Bajaj has accepted an offer from Austrian firm KTM to up its stake in the on/off road manufacturer from 30% to a controlling 90% share.

According to Indian news site The Economic Times KTM invited Bajaj, one of the largest manufacturers of motorcycles and scooters in the world, to raise its current stake of 30% to a controlled 90%.

Bajaj is reported to have accepted the offer, though initially it will only purchase a further 21% of shares to give it a controlling 51% stake, and will later raise its percentage holding to the full 90%.

At this stage it isn’t known how the move will affect KTM, one of the biggest off-road motorcycle manufacturers in the world.

The current partnership has seen the development of KTM’s first serious attempt at cracking the sub-500cc road bike market – a 125 learner motorcycle due to be launched later this year as well as 250cc bikes based on the same platform.

KTM is also yet to officially comment on the news.