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Mumbai:
The
Tata group''s Rallis India, as part of its restructuring
exercise, has decided to focus on its core business of
agrochemicals. The company is planning to strengthen the
balance sheet by selling its non-core activities.
Dr
V.S. Sohoni, managing director, Rallis India Ltd said:
"Our core focus is now the agrochemical business.
We are evaluating all the options to restructure our
non-core activities. The funds generated from the exit
of non-core activities will mainly be used to reduced
the debt portfolio of the company."
To
reduce its Rs 350 crores odd debts, Rallis India is
in the process of issuing 90 lakh cumulative redeemable
preference shares of Rs 10 each, aggregating Rs 90 crore
through a private placement. It also sold its gelatin
business to Sterling Biotech for Rs 47 crore last week.
The recent sale of surplus land to Tata Sons will also
bring in around Rs 56 crores in cash to the company.
All these transactions are expected to bring down the
debt burden considerably and thereby sharply reduce
the debt equity ratio from a high of 8.1:1 from around
2.1
Rallis''s
agrochemical products include, pesticides, chemical
by-products, seeds and fertilises. Besides these, the
company has a presence
in bulk drugs, animal feed supplement, vegetable-tanning,
powder, granules, injectables and oral pharmaceuticals.
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