Chennai-headquartered Murugappa Group firm EID Parry (India) Ltd has acquired the entire stake of its JV partner Cargill Asia Pacific Holdings Pte in its JV firm Silkroad Sugar Pvt Ltd (SSPL) for an undisclosed amount. With this acquisition, EID Parry will be holding 99 per cent stake in the company.
In April 2006, EID Parry had formed a JV with US-based Cargill to set up an export-oriented sugar refinery at Kakinada in Andhra Pradesh, for an investment of Rs 325 crore. The sugar refinery had an initial capacity of 6,00,000 tonnes a year. The plant was scheduled to commence operations in 2007, but was delayed due to constraints in gas supply.
EID Parry is part of the Murugappa Group and is engaged in manufacturing and marketing of products such as sugar and alcohol besides co-generation of power, bio-pesticides and nutraceuticals.
In September last year, EID Parry acquired the remaining 49 per cent stake in US-based Nutraceuticals LLC for $4.51 million. In November 2008, the company announced strategic acquisition of 48 per cent stake in Nutraceuticals, according to media reports. In FY2011, the company acquired another three per cent stake in the US firm, increasing its stake to 51 per cent.
The firm had also acquired stake in several other companies such as Sadashiva Sugar Ltd and New Horizon Sugar Mills Ltd, among others. Coromandel International Ltd is another subsidiary of the company.
Cargill started operations in India in 1987 and has businesses in refined oils, food ingredients, grain and oilseeds, sugar, cotton, animal feed and trade-structured finance. It also operates a non-banking financial company. The company markets various brands of edible oils such as NatureFresh, Gemini and Sweekar and Rath. Cargill has more than 2,000 employees working across its offices and plants, as well as a network of warehouses and depots.
Most recently, Cargill acquired the Sunflower Vanaspati brand of Wipro Consumer Care Ltd. Earlier in 2011, it acquired the Sweekar brand from Mumbai-based Marico Ltd for $13.23 million and in 2010, acquired Rath, a vanaspati brand of Agro Tech Foods Ltd, for an undisclosed amount.
(Edited by Sanghamitra Mandal)
