AV Birla group close to aquiring canadian pulp mill.
Slated to be the biggest acquisition by Indian company in North America.
Aditya Birla Group is looking way north. The group through its Canadian joint venture AV Cell, is at an advanced stage of negotiations to acquire a Canadian pulp mill. The deal if it materializes will be anywhere worth between $50- $100 million making it the biggest acquisition in North America by an Indian company.
An article in a leading newspaper confirmed that the AV Cell is in the process of negotiating acquisition of St Anne Nackawic Paper Mill, the mill that is owned by Parsons & Whittemore, one of the largest producers of pulp in the world.
The article also confirmed the proposed acquisition is aimed at increasing the group’s captive pulp supply for its viscose staple fibre (VSF) business in India, Thailand and Indonesia. Currently AV Cells supplies pulp to these locations.
The Birla Group made its first acquisition in Canada in the late ‘90s, when it bought 50% in Tembec, an integrated Canadian forest products company which is also into pulp production.
