Tongtai Group, one of Taiwan's leading machine tool makers, said Friday that it has completed an acquisition of a 100-percent stake in French-based PCI-SCEMM as part of its efforts to boost its visibility in the global market.

Before the acquisition, PCI-SCEMM served as a designer and manufacturer of machining systems under French auto maker PSA Peugeot Citroen.

At the end of March, Tongtai and PCI-SCEMM signed an agreement on the acquisition of the headquarters of PSA Peugeot Citroen located in Paris, and was witnessed by attorneys from both sides.

Before the deal was signed, Tongtai and PCI-SCEMM had gone through negotiations for about one year. After wrapping up the talks, Tongtai agreed to spend about 5.5 million euros (US$5.89 million) to acquire the French firm.

Following the signing ceremony, Tongtai's executives went to the headquarters of PCI-SCEMM in Saint-Etienne for a meeting which focused on the operations of the French firm after the acquisition. The Taiwanese suitor has started the process of taking over PCI-SCEMM's projects.

On April 3, Tongtai and PCI-SCEMM held a news conference in the French firm's headquarters to brief 150 attendees, including representatives from the Sanit-Etienne city government, about the newly signed acquisition agreement.

After the buy-in deal, Tongtai Chairman Yen Jui-Hsiung has become the chairman of PCI-SCEMM, while Huang Ying-chun , the head of Tongtai's operations division, has served as the president of the France-based firm. Tongtai said that Huang has been in charge of integrating the resources of the Taiwanese firm and its new French unit.

In 2014, PCI-SCEMM posted about NT$1 billion (US$31.95 million) in sales, slightly higher from a year earlier, Tongtai said, adding that the French subsidiary has set a goal to double its sales by 2020.

Tongtai said that the acquisition is expected to strengthen the group's production capacity in rolling out auto products. The group said that the deal is expected not only to cater to the European auto market but also to penetrate the growing China car market.

Tongtai said that PCI-SCEMM will take part in the 14th China International Machine Tool Show, which will kick off in Beijing April 20 and run through April 25, as one of the divisions of Tongtai.

Representatives from the new Tongtai division will visit customers and dealers of the parent company during their stay in Beijing.