Aditya Birla Chemicals and Grasim Turned Into One

The Board of Directors of Grasim has approved the proposed merger of the Aditya Birla Chemicals (India) Limited (ABCIL), another Aditya Brila Group company, with Grasim.

Grasim’s Board of Directors approved the swap ratio of 1 share of Rs 10 each of Grasim for every 16 shares of Rs 10 each of ABCIL, a press release from Grasim said. Grasim will issue 14.62 lakh new shares, which will increase its share capital to Rs 93.31 crore, the release added.

With an installed capacity of around 452,500 tonnes per annum, Grasim is a leading manufacturer of caustic soda, which is inter-alia used as an input in the manufacturing of viscose staple fibre (VSF), which is a major business of Grasim. Its plants are located at Nagda (Madhya Pradesh) and at Vilayat (Gujarat), where a unit was recently commissioned.

ABCIL is one of the leading chlor-alkali companies in India with three manufacturing plants located at Rehla (Jharkhand), Renukoot (UP) and Karwar (Karnataka) with an installed capacity of around 293,000 tonnes of caustic soda per annum and 110 MW of captive power plant.

The merger of ABCIL with Grasim will consolidate Aditya Birla Group’s chlor-alkali business into Grasim, and strengthen its existing portfolio of VSF, caustic soda and allied chemicals in the standalone company.

The merger, which is in line with Aditya Birla Group's philosophy to unify similar business in one company, will enable geographical diversification for Grasim through the addition of ABCIL's manufacturing facilities spread across the country. It will also enable the business to capitalise growth opportunities by bringing in operational and financial synergies, backed by Grasim's strength.