Mcleod Russel India Ltd., a BM Khaitan Group company, has entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for selling eight Assam gardens to M.K. Shah Exports for ₹331 crore.
The decision follows an approval from the board last week, the company said in a regulatory filing.
These gardens together contributed 12.3 % of MRIL’s total turnover with a contribution of about ₹192.8 crore. The deal would be closed subject to necessary approvals and the completion of due diligence. The slump sale does not involve any merger or amalgamation.
MRIL had said that its decision on garden sale was linked with the company’s need to rationalise operations when its production from own gardens (at 67 million kg) was “disproportionately heavier compared to its output from the bought leaf sector and its own subsidiaries”. Its total crop was 27 million kg higher than a year ago at 118 million kg in 2017-18, with a substantial jump in standalone and consolidated profits. Its operations now spread across India, Uganda, Rwanda and Vietnam. Africa had contributed well to its profits, it said last week.
