Yara International ASA has entered into an agreement to acquire the Tata Chemicals Ltd.’s Babrala urea plant and distribution business in Uttar Pradesh for US$400 million on a debt and cash free basis, including normalized net working capital.
The plant has an annual production of 700,000 mt ammonia and 1.2 million mt urea, and generated revenues and EBITDA of respectively $350 million and $35 million in the financial year ended March 31, 2016. The plant was commissioned in 1994, and Yara says it is the most energy efficient plant in India, with energy efficiency on a par with Yara’s best plants.
Yara has operated in India since the 1990s, focusing in recent years on premium product sales in the West and South of the country, saying it has delivered strong volume growth and margins well above Yara’s average for the region.