B M Khaitan Decides Not To Sell Assam Gardens

The B M Khaitan group has decided not to sell its gardens -- Behali and Mijicajan in Assam -- following the Magors' decision to call off the deal to buy them.

The gardens, which belonged to Bishnauth Tea prior to the merger of Eveready and Bishnauth, were to be sold to George Williamson (Assam). R S Jhawar, director of Eveready, said: "We wanted to sell the gardens to George Williamson (Assam) as it would remain within the group. However, as the deal was called off we have decided not to sell these gardens."

The estimated production of the two gardens is around two million kg. The two gardens were valued at Rs 50 crore. It may be mentioned that Magors called off the deal after they felt the gardens were grossly overpriced. George Williamson (Assam) was supposed to issue non-convertible debentures to fund the acquisition.

Eveready has mopped up around Rs 84 crore from the sale of gardens. Jhawar said: "We hope to make around Rs 140 crore from the sale gardens over the next couple of months." However, sources said that the group was finding it difficult to find buyers for its Dooars gardens due to depressed prices. After disposing Matelli, the group is still left with five gardens in Dooars.

Meanwhile, the Magors have decided to move out from Mangoe Lane and set up their independent office in B M Khaitan's property on Camac Street. Jhawar said that this was part of an internal adjustment as the Khaitans owed some money to the Magors and vice versa.

However, he clarified that the adjustment would be in cash and at the market value. Real estate sources say the Khaitans had been able to sell around 40 per cent of the property, so far.