|
|
|
You can get e-magazine links on WhatsApp. Click here
|
|
|
|
|
|
Tata Tea acquires 51% stake in Russian firm Grand
|
|
Monday, 30 March, 2009, 08 : 00 AM [IST]
|
|
Our Bureau, Thiruvananthapuram
|
Tata Tea has announced that it is set to acquire 51% in Grand, Russia's tea and coffee major, through one of its overseas subsidiaries, in partnership with European Bank of Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). According to a statement from the company, Tata Tea will hold 33.2% stake and EBRD will hold 17.8%. The remaining 49% will be retained by the Grand founder and long-time associate of Tata Coffee, Alexander Borisov. Borisov and his current management team will also remain with the company. The acquisition is expected to be completed in the first half of 2009.
Established in 1994, Grand is a branding, packing and distribution company in Russia. The company is a major player in the economy segment of the coffee and tea sector in Russia and is mainly focused on regions outside the big cities and areas like the Urals, Siberia and southern Russia.
Tata Tea's investment in the company will, among other things, finance the modernisation of Grand's production facilities in order to increase the quantity and quality of its output. This will open the way for new market opportunities, according to the company's statement.
Tata Tea's foray into the global map can be traced back to February 2000, when the company acquired the Tetley Group in the UK for 271 million pounds. In 2005, Tata Tea acquired Good Earth Corporation and in June 2006 it acquired Jemca in Czech Republic. Tata Coffee, meanwhile, acquired Eight O'Clock Coffee Company, USA, for Rs 1,015 crore in June 2006.
Drop in tea production across world
Tea production across the globe is bound to have a lesser crop for the first three months in this year. In India, while production in the North is expected to begin next month after winter, in the south, the dry spell has taken out nearly 34% of the tea production during the first three months of 2009 compared to last year. Production is estimated to be around 32 million kg.
The other major producers, Kenya and Sri Lanka, have so far reported lower production. During the first two months. Sri Lankan production has fallen by around 40% to 30.4 million kg.
Kenya which has been reeling under a spell of drought in parts of tea-growing areas is expected to have a lower crop of 335 million kg during this tea production year from July last to June when it was 369 million kg during the same period last year. Market reports from Kenya point to production dipping to nearly 47 million kg in Jan-Feb when it was around 54 m kg last year. Other tea producers like Malawi and Indonesia too are expected to have marginal fall in production.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|