KOLKATA: Tata Tea subsidiary Tata Tea (GB) Ltd., U.K., has signed a definitive agreement to acquire the assets of the Czech tea company, JEMCA, from the food processing company Alima znacková potravina a.s. The acquisition has been funded by The Tetley Group, according to a company release.

According to a study by AC Nielsen, JEMCA has a 26.6 per cent share of the tea market in the Czech Republic and a turnover of 300 million Czech Koruna ($12.5 million). JEMCA has been in the tea business since 1974, originally as part of a state-owned company and later as part of the Alima group of companies.

JEMCA sells a wide range of black, green and fruit and herbal teas which it produces at its factory in Jemnice, about 200 km South East of Prague.

JEMCA brand name

JEMCA will continue to pack teas at its production facility in Jemnice and continue to trade under the JEMCA brand name.

The `buy' is likely to give the Tatas a market leading position in a high tea consumption market, where it was unrepresented.

R. K. Krishna Kumar, Vice-Chairman, Tata Tea Ltd (TTL), described this as an important acquisition for the Tetley Group and the new company was a good fit with the existing product range.

In a statement, Ken Pringle, Executive Vice-Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Tetley Group, and director of Tata Tea, said this was the Tata group's second tea acquisition since October 2005 when it picked up Good Earth Corporation and FMALI Herb Inc to increase its nominal share in the US speciality tea market.

It may be mentioned here that at its last annual meeting, TTL Chairman, Ratan Tata, had obtained shareholders' approval for creating a `war chest' of Rs. 500 crore, which he said was necessary for making acquisitions by TTL and Tetley.

Its other subsidiary companies include Tata Tea Inc (U.S.) and Tata Coffee Ltd. It also has a joint venture in Sri Lanka.

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