Crystal Crop acquires 4 brands from US-based FMC Corporation

Agro-chemical firm Crystal Crop, which soon plans to launch its Rs 1,000-crore IPO, today announced acquisition of four brands from American company FMC Corporation for an undisclosed amount.

This acquisition will boost the company's revenue by around Rs 100 crore annually, sources said. The company's revenue stood at Rs 1,285 crore during 2016-17 fiscal. In the first nine month of 2017-18 fiscal, its revenue was at Rs 1,071 crore.

This is Crystal Crop's third acquisition in 2018. The first was a chemicals plant from Cytec India Specialty Chemicals and Materials Private Ltd and the second was Indian sorghum, pearl millet and fodder seeds business from Syngenta India.

In a statement, Crystal Crop said that the acquisition of brands -- Furadan, Splendour, Metcil and Affinity Force -- from the FMC Corporation will strengthened its insecticide and herbicide portfolio.

"We believe in acting as an enabler to Indian farmers to improve their farming income and this acquisition is a step in that direction. Staying true to our philosophy of inspiring growth for all our stakeholders, we are open to more such inorganic growth opportunities in the future too," company's Managing Director Ankur Aggarwal said.

The acquisition of 'Furadan' and 'Furadan Ultra' will help the company in introducing solutions to crops such as paddy, maize, sugarcane, while 'Affinity Force' will give edge in the wheat segment as it controls few of the most difficult weeds.

Besides this, the brand 'Splendour' is expected to add value to the tea market.

According to the sources, the acquisition is expected to immediately add up to USD 15 million to its business and around 15 per cent to its branded retail business.

The Crystal Crop had recently filed the draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) with regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) to raise Rs 1,000 crore via initial public offer (IPO), comprising fresh issue of up to Rs 545 crore and an offer for sale of up to Rs 455 crore.

The company has diversified business from manufacturing and marketing domestic agrochemicals into manufacturing and distribution of seeds, and the distribution of agri-equipment and exports of our agrochemical products.