Aditya Birla Chemicals (India) Limited acquires chlor-alkali and phosphoric acid division of Solaris Chemtech Industries Limited

• Foothold in an attractive market
• Entry in new product segment (Phosphoric acid)
• Accelerated growth

The Board of Directors of Aditya Birla Chemicals (India) Limited (“ABCIL”) a company of the Aditya Birla Group, today approved the acquisition of the Chlor-Alkali and Phosphoric Acid Division (“CA&;P Division”) of Solaris Chemtech Industries Limited (“SCIL”) for a cash consideration of Rs.153 crore. This transaction will enable ABCIL’s entry into the southern Indian market as well as the addition of phosphoric acid to its current product portfolio.

Says Mr. Kumar Mangalam Birla, Chairman, Aditya Birla Group, “This strategic acquisition further strengthens our position in the chlor-alkali business. It will take our chlor-alkali business on a higher growth trajectory and marks our entry into a new market segment of phosphoric acid. The acquisition bolsters caustic soda supply, which is a critical input for both our aluminium and Viscose Staple Fibre (VSF) businesses.”

Remarks Mr. Lalit Naik, Business Head for Chemicals, Aditya Birla Group, “This is a strategic acquisition in the southern region, which provides growth opportunities in the caustic business as well as a leadership position in phosphoric acid. The acquisition cost and proposed capital expenditure will be funded through a mix of internal accruals and debt."

CA&;P Division has a caustic soda manufacturing facility with an installed capacity of approximately 60,000 tpa and phosphoric acid plant with an installed capacity of approximately 24,000 tpa, both located in Karwar, Karnataka and 3,000 acres of salt works in Gujarat. The caustic soda plant is not operational since 31 December 2012 because the mercury-based technology had to be shut down as per the statutory requirement. ABCIL proposes to convert the mercury plant into membrane-based cell technology.

CA&;P Division produced 33,747 tpa of caustic and 21,379 tpa of phosphoric acid in FY 2012-13 and had a gross turnover of Rs.244 crore.

Aditya Birla Chemicals (India) Limited is a leading chlor-alkali company with a caustic soda capacity of 2,42,725 tpa capacity. The company manufactures various chlorine derivatives as value-added products.

SCIL is a closely held unlisted company having its registered office in New Delhi.

About Aditya Birla Group
A US $40 billion corporation, the Aditya Birla Group is in the League of Fortune 500. It is anchored by an extraordinary force of over 136,000 employees, belonging to 42 different nationalities. The Group has been ranked Number 4 in the Global 'Top Companies for Leaders' survey and ranked Number 1 in Asia Pacific for 2011. 'Top Companies for Leaders' is the most comprehensive study of organisational leadership in the world conducted by Aon Hewitt, Fortune Magazine and RBL (a strategic HR and Leadership Advisory firm).

Over 50 per cent of its revenues flow from its overseas operations. The Group operates in 36 countries – Australia, Austria, Bangladesh, Brazil, Canada, China, Egypt, France, Germany, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Italy, Ivory Coast, Japan, Korea, Laos, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Poland, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Tanzania, Thailand, Turkey, UAE, UK, USA and Vietnam.