Dry cell battery-maker Eveready Industries India Ltd. has sold its Chennai land for ₹100 crore to Alwarpet Properties Pvt. Ltd. (part of the Olympia Group, Chennai), EIIL said in a regulatory filing.
The land will be used for a retail and entertainment project by the group, to whom EIIL had sold its earlier holdings as well.
The sale agreement was executed on December 5, 2018, and is expected to be completed in four to 10 months on tangible milestones, according to the filing.
EIIL hopes to utilise the proceeds to reduce its ₹300-crore debt (as of April 2018), Amritanshu Khaitan, managing director, EIIL, told The Hindu. He said that the land measuring about 10 acres was located on Tiruvottiyur Road.
He said that the half-a-century-old battery unit housed on the land was shut down last year due to high costs, which had made it economically unviable. EIIL commissioned a unit near Guwahati in Assam last year, whose capacity took care of the Chennai unit. The closure of the factory was positive to the profitability of the business on account of cost savings, EIIL said in a release.
Commenting on the deal, Chandrakant Kankaria, Director, Olympia Group, said that the group had started its real estate journey in partnership with EIIL by developing the latter’s land at Guindy, Chennai, where the Olympia Tech Park came up. Enquiries revealed EIIL later exited the partnership. Ajit Chordia, Olympia managing director, said that the group planned to develop the land as a retail and entertainment destination.
EIIL sells over 1.2 billion batteries and 25 million flashlights annually. Of late, it has diversified into lighting products and small household devices. It also sells packet tea.