Agrochemicals maker Excel Crop Care Ltd has said that its board has approved a plan that will see its present owner Sumitomo Chemicals India Pvt. Ltd reverse merge with the company to become a listed entity, the company said in a filing with stock exchanges.
Sumitomo Chemicals India along with another group entity currently owns 65% stake in Excel Crop Care Ltd. Sumitomo acquired the stake in Excel Crop Care from the Shroff family in 2016. Sumitomo Chemical’s India business is headed by Pran Arora.
Sumitomo Chemicals, part of Japanese conglomerate Sumitomo Group, is an over $9 billion business spread across various geographies.
According to the exchange filing, shareholders of Excel Crop Care will get 51 shares of Sumitomo Chemicals India for every two shares that they hold. Sumitomo will hold a 80% stake in the newly listed company, once the process is completed.
Excel Crop Care reported a revenue of Rs1,189.8 crore in the financial year ended 31 March, while Sumitomo Chemicals India reported a topline of Rs870.6 crore in the same period.
Consolidation of businesses shall create greater operational synergies and efficiencies at multiple levels of business operations and shall provide significant impetus to their growth, the statement said.
“Merger shall result in consolidation of major India operations under one platform which is expected to get undivided attention from the parent company and thereby leveraging capability of the merged entity which in turn will allow the merged entity to undertake future expansion strategies and to tap bigger opportunities,” the statement added.
“This will be the first Sumitomo Chemicals entity to be listed outside of Japan. The combined entity will be valued at around Rs9,000 crore,” said a person aware of the development, who spoke of the condition of anonymity.
Source: Mint