Tata Global Beverages Ltd (TGBL) is planning to sell its 31.85 per cent stake in Watawala plantations in Sri Lanka to Colombo-based Sunshine Holdings Plc.
TGBL will sell its stake in joint venture Estate Management Services Pvt. Ltd for Rs 120 crore. This decision has been made in line with its strategy of focusing on packet tea businesses in key geographies.
Post this action, Watawala plantations will become a joint venture between Sunshine Holdings, the dominant shareholder, and Singapore-based Pyramid Wilmar Plantations Pvt. Ltd.
TGBL had acquired a majority stake in Watawala plantations in 1996. In 2013, its stake in Estate Management fell from 49 per cent to 31.85 per cent when Pyramid Wilmar Plantations came in as a new partner. The book value of its investment, or the actual amount of money spent to acquire the interest, was Rs 14.57 crore.
The company continues to own 41 per cent in Amalgamated Plantations Pvt. Ltd, which owns estates in West Bengal and Assam, and 28.5 per cent in Kanan Devan Hills Plantations Ltd, which has gardens in Kerala. Both the companies have lately been running losses.