Virat Crane finalizes acquisition of 51% stake in Durga Dairy Ltd

Virat Crane Industries Ltd has announced that the Board of Directors of the Company at its meeting held on November 13, 2006, inter alia, has considered and accorded the following:

1. Finalized the acquisition of 51% stake in leading Dairy Company namely Durga Dairy Ltd. The effective date of acquisition of 51% stake is considered as November 13, 2006.

2. With effect from November 13, 2006, Durga Dairy Ltd will become the subsidiary of the Company. Accordingly the Company will have consolidated financials from 3Q of 2006-07.

Durga Dairy Ltd is based at Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh, a leading Daily products Company with about sales of Rs 11.80 Crores and Profit After Tax of Rs 2 crores for the year 2005-06, with its presence spread across Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, Maharashtra & West Bengal. Brand Durga products are very popular in household retail segment and the Company is expected to show a growth rate of about 25% in its top line with improvement in the Net Margins.

M/s Firstcall India Equity Advisors (P) Ltd, Mumbai, acted as the advisors for the transaction.

3. The Board of Directors intends to put on utilization the infrastructure facilities that the Company possesses, in terms of Land and Buildings based at Guntur Town. To this extent, the Company intends to develop further, the Infrastructure by converting the existing facilities into a Corporate Park in the fast growing Industrial Town of Guntur, Andhra Pradesh.

4. To have a specialized focus, the Board of Directors of the Company has decided to consider the options of spinning of the Infrastructure Facilities into a separate Company, while the Company concentrates on Food Products in Dairy Segment going forward. To achieve the same the Company intends to negotiate with the residual stakeholders of Durga Dairy Ltd for a possible Amalgamation / Merger of Durga Dairy Ltd with the Company.

5. To advise on the M&A transaction with reference to the Demerger of Infrastructure of Division and to consider the option of Amalgamating Durga Dairy Ltd, the Board of Directors has decided to appoint M/s Firstcall India Equity Advisors Pvt Ltd, Mumbai as their Advisors for assessing the feasibility of M&A transactions.

Source : Equity Bulls

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