Emami ready to spend up to Rs 1,000 cr for overseas buys

Leading FMCG player Emami is ready to spend up to Rs 1,000-crore for overseas acquisition in the personal-care segment, a top company official said.

Kolkata-based Emami owns the well-known ayurvedic brand -- Boroplus, an antiseptic cream.

The company had, early this year, acquired an Egyptian personal-care manufacturer for around Rs 25-crore.

"We are in talks with 2-3 firms in Africa as well as a few companies in Europe and the Middle-East. The deal size could range anywhere between Rs 50-crore-1,000-crore. However, talks (with these companies) are in the preliminary stages now," Emami's Director Harshvardhan Agarwal told PTI here today.

Emami has already announced that it has got its Board approval to raise long-term resources up to Rs 2,000-crore through issue of securities and that the limit of borrowings has been increased to Rs 3,000-crore from the earlier Rs 1,500-crore.

"The company has comfortably arranged enough funds to take care of its future acquisitions, both domestic and overseas," Agarwal said.

The diversified Emami Group with interests ranging from FMCG to power, is now aggressively looking to expand its global footprint in the FMCG space in a bid to take on its direct competitor, Dabur.

The Delhi-based Dabur has already sealed two global acquisitions besides upping exports of its ayurvedic-based products to an increasing number of markets worldwide.

Stiff domestic competition as also the entry of international brands such as Unilever's Ponds and Lakme are other reasons for Emami eyeing overseas markets.

Asked if Emami is still in the race for acquiring Ahmedabad-based Paras Pharmaceuticals, Agarwal declined to comment.

Other contenders for Paras include P&G, Marico and Piramal Healthcare. Paras Pharmaceuticals makes OTC products such as Moov, D'Cold and Livon.