Tata Chemicals zooms 10% on report Co in talks to buy Archean's unit

According to the report, Tata Chemicals is in advanced talks to acquire the industrial salt unit of Archean Group that could value the business at Rs 450 crore at a minimum

Shares of Tata Chemicals hit a fresh record high of Rs 552 after rising 5 per cent on the BSE in intra-day trade on Wednesday. The stock has surged 10 per cent in the past two trading days, on report that the Tata Group commodity chemicals company is in advanced talks for Archean's industrial salt unit.

At 12:14 pm, Tata Chemicals was trading 4 per cent higher at Rs 543, as compared to 0.12 per cent decline in the S&P BSE Sensex. The trading volumes on the counter nearly doubled with a combined around 12 million equity shares changing hands on the NSE and BSE, till the time of writing this report.

The BSE said the Exchange has sought clarification from Tata Chemicals on January 13, 2021, with reference to a media report, dated January 13, 2021 quoting "Tata Chemicals in advanced talks to buy debt-laden Archean’s unit". The reply is awaited.

According to Bloomberg, Tata Chemicals is in advanced talks to acquire the industrial salt unit of Archean Group that could value the business at  Rs 450 crore ($61 million) at a minimum.

The board of Tata Chemicals is set to discuss the potential offer as soon as this month; the report suggested quoting the people familiar with the matter.

A potential deal could offer a reprieve to Archean, which has been struggling to service its debt obligations for the past two years. The Archean unit, with a production capacity of 3 million metric tons, makes industrial salt used as an intermediary in the manufacturing of products from detergents, textile dyes to plastics and glass. CLICK HERE TO READ FULL REPORT