MUMBAI: Tata Chemicals Limited (TCL), through its subsidiary, has signed definitive agreements with Wayland Investments Ltd. and Barclays Bank Limited for acquiring their 63.5 per cent stake in the U.K.-based Brunner Mond Group U.K. (BM), for a total consideration of about Rs. 508 crore.

The Brunner Mond Group manufactures soda ash and sodium bicarbonate and has manufacturing locations in the U.K., the Netherlands and Kenya. With this acquisition, TCL will now be one of the leading producers of soda ash in the world.

According to Prasad Menon, Managing Director, Tata Chemicals, "This is yet another milestone on our journey towards becoming a globally competitive company.

"As a first step towards internationalisation, earlier this year, we became an equal partner in Indo Maroc Phosphore S.A. (IMACID), a company manufacturing phosphoric acid in Morocco. The combined entity of Brunner Mond and Tata Chemicals will now propel us further to greater strengths in technology, customer relationships and cost leadership.

This deal will add over 1,000 employees across Africa and Europe. The total soda ash production capacity of the combined entity will now be close to three million tonnes annually.

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