Tata Chemical''s arm completes acquisition of British Salt

Mumbai, Jan 19 (PTI) Tata Chemicals today said itswholly-owned UK arm Brunner Mond has completed the acquisitionof Cheshire Salt Holdings Ltd (CSHL), parent company ofBritish Salt.

Brunner Mond has received the requisite regulatoryapprovals to complete the acquisition of Cheshire SaltHoldings, Tata Chemicals said in a statement here.

"The acquisition provides an opportunity to securelong-term brine supplies for Brunner Mond operations," TataChemicals Managing Director R Mukundan said.

This acquisition was for 93 million pounds (around Rs 650crore).

Apart from the core business of salt manufacturing andsupplying, British Salt''s profitability in the gas storagebusiness makes this a promising business model which has thepotential to generate additional cash flows for theenterprise, Mukundan had earlier said.

Mukundan had said that the acquisition will not onlyhelp Tata Chemicals strengthen its presence in the processedfood market but also help Bruner Mond to maintain a low-costmanufacturing position in Europe.

It will also help the overall financial position ofthe companies European operations, he added.

Cheshire Salt, based in Middlewich, produces abouthalf of UK''s pure salt used in applications ranging from foodprocessing to chemicals production.

This will complement Tata Chemicals-owned Brunner Mond''sexperience in manufacturing bulk products, including soda ashand sodium bicarbonate.