ITC to examine inorganic avenues

ITC Ltd was open to all growth options and would continue to examine all opportunities, company chairman Y C Deveshwar said today.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the company's extraordinary general meeting (EGM) to approve the merger of ITC Hotels and Ansal Hotels with ITC, he said suitable proposals would be placed before the board on the basis of merit at the appropriate time and both organic and inorganic expansion opportunities would be examined.

ITC has been acquiring brands in the FMCG market and grown its paper business both through acquisition and capacity expansion in the recent past.

Deveshwar said the company's mainstay cigarette business was maintaining a healthy rate of growth driven by a shift in preference among tobacco users to cigarettes from non-cigarette forms of tobacco consumption.

The retailing business would be driven by the e-choupal model in rural India and a combination of owned Wills stores and multi-brand store based retailing in urban centres.

In the latter, inorganic growth could not be ruled out, and it could range from malls to hypermarkets.

ITC has sought approval from shareholders for an enabling provision to enter the personal care products business and Deveshwar indicated these products would feature prominently in its retail expansion drive. He refused to comment of the level of preparedness within the company to launch personal care products once the approval of shareholders was obtained.

The e-choupals would nurture rural markets through a network of choupals and rural malls to develop two-way commerce in goods and services besides improving rural purchasing power by enabling farmers to discover and act on prices of their produce.

ITC recently launched its first rural mall, called Chaupal Sagar, at Sehore in Madhya Pradesh. The company could even retail fuels and consumables at such malls, said Deveshwar.

Earlier, at the EGM held at Kolkata's Science City auditorium, the court appointed chairman, retired Justice G N Ray, ordered a poll of members, with two scrutineers to conduct the counting.

Results of the poll of members of ITC were not available till late in the evening.

The shareholders of ITC Hotels & Ansal Hotels Ltd have at respective extraordinary general meetings in Delhi sanctioned the merger proposal with ITC Ltd.

ITC Ltd will absorb more than 4000 employees currently with the two entities.