UPL to spin off crop protection business into separate listed entity

UPL will demerge and consolidate its India and global crop protection businesses into a new listed entity, UPL Global, enabling focused value discovery across the group's operations

UPL Limited on Friday said its board has approved a proposal to spin off its crop protection business, creating what it described as the world’s second-largest listed pure-play crop protection platform.

 

Under a composite scheme of arrangement, UPL will consolidate its India and international crop protection businesses into a new listed entity, UPL Global Sustainable Agri Solutions. 

The existing company, UPL, will continue as a diversified agriculture and specialty chemicals company. 

The restructuring will be carried out in three steps: the merger of UPL Sustainable Agri Solutions, which houses the India crop protection business, into UPL; the demerger of the India crop protection business into UPL Global; and the amalgamation of UPL Crop Protection Holdings, which owns the group’s international crop protection operations, into UPL Global. 

Following the reorganisation, shareholders will hold stakes in two listed entities — UPL and UPL Global — allowing for separate value discovery of the group’s businesses.

 

The company said the transaction is expected to be completed within 12–15 months, subject to regulatory approvals.

 

JM Financial and Axis Capital acted as financial advisers to the transaction, while AZB Partners served as legal counsel.

 

Last month, Advanta Enterprises, UPL’s seeds business, had filed its draft red herring prospectus for an initial public offering.

 

Shares of UPL last closed at Rs 752, giving the company a market capitalisation of Rs 63,460 crore.