The company is looking to raise around Rs 550 crore via the IPO that will comprise both fresh issue and share sale by existing promoters.
Crystal Crop Protection, looking to tap the capital markets for an initial public offering by September, is in the race for more acquisitions after having acquired Swiss company Syngenta’s pearl millet and sorghum seeds business in April. Crystal has now shortlisted to acquire one and is a contender for another business of multinational-national companies looking to restructure their India operations, Ankur Aggarwal, Managing Director of the company told Moneycontrol.
“We have bid for pesticides and agrochemical opportunities. One is a $10-million revenue and the other is a $20-million revenue business. The deals will be funded with the help of bank loans and internal accruals. They should materialise by mid-to-end September,” Aggarwal said.
The company is looking to raise around Rs 1000 crore via the IPO that will comprise Rs 545 crore as fresh issue and secondary sale of the remaining amount by existing promoters including Singapore-based private equity investor Everstone Capital.
“Out of the IPO proceeds, we will keep Rs 80 crore for inorganic opportunities, Rs 120 crore for general corporate purposes and Rs 345 crore for debt repayment. Crystal Crop will be a debt-free company after the IPO,” the 35-year-old Aggarwal, son of the founder and Chairman Nand Kishore Aggarwal said.
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Crystal Crop is a manufacturer of insecticides, fungicides, herbicides and plant growth regulators and bio-stimulants. The company provides crop protection solutions to the Indian farmer to assist them to maximise productivity and profitability.
The New Delhi-headquartered company also makes agri equipment like spray pumps, tillers, harvesters, and sowing machines. It is also a supplier of seeds for growing tomato, maize, brinjal, bitter gourd, okra, and bajra.
The Indian crop protection market is dominated by insecticides, which form almost 60 percent of the domestic crop protection chemicals market. The major applications are found in rice and cotton crops. Fungicides and herbicides are the largest growing segments accounting for 18 percent and 16 percent, respectively, of the total crop protection chemicals market, according to the annual report of Insecticides India, a large listed player in the market.
At present, per hectare consumption of pesticides in India is amongst the lowest in the world and stands at 0.6 kg/ha against 5-7 kg/ha in the UK and 13 kg/ha in China.