Shree Renuka Sugars acquires majority stake in Gokak Sugars

Source: http://www.domain-b.com/industry/Sugar/20081020_shree_renuka_sugars.html


India's largest sugar refiner Shree Renuka Sugars today said it had acquired an 87-per cent stake in Karnataka-based Gokak Sugars Ltd for Rs69.3 crore, including debt of Rs65 crore.

Gokak Sugars Ltd. has a 2,500 TCD sugar manufacturing unit, which is equivalent to 7 per cent of Shree Renuka's total crushing capacity and a 14MW co-generation power plant at Kolavi village, Belgaum in Karnataka.

Narendra Murkumbi, managing director, Shree Renuka Sugar told a business news channel that Gokak Sugars will would add Rs12 crore to Shree Renuka's revenue.
The Belgaum-headquatered Shre Renuka has sugar refining capacity of 4000 tons per day --- the largest in India --- comprising two 1000 TPD refineries integrated with its plants at Munoli and Athani and a 2000 TPD port-based refinery coming up in Haldia.

The acquisition by Shree Renuka, which aims to become the most-efficient integrated processor of sugarcane in the world, is in keeping with its strategy to expand capacity through acquisitions of low-priced sugar assets to raise its refining capacity.

In August it had announced its intention to set up a new 700,000 tons per annum sugar refinery in the Mundra SEZ in Gujarat at project cost of Rs350 crore to raise its sugar refining capacity to 6000tpd, which includes the 2,000tpd refinery at Haldia and the refining capacity at two of its integrated sugar mills in Karnataka

Shree Renuka Sugars, which also has interests in power and ethanol, has also leased the Raibag-based sugar cooperative Raibag Sahakari Sakhar Karkhana Niyamit, which has a daily crushing capacity of 2,500 tonnes, from the Karnataka government on a 30 year-lease.

Earlier in July 2007, Shree Renuka Sugars had bought a 100 kilio litres per day capacity distillery from Dhanuka PetroChem in Khopoli, Maharashtra, for Rs 6 crore. The distillery can produce ethanol from alcohol. Simultaneously, it acquired an undisclosed minority stake in Pune-based KBK Chem-Engineering Pvt Ltd, a neutral alcohol manufacuturer, with engineering capabilities in distellery, ethanol plants and bio-fuels for Rs37 crore.

Around the same time it also bought Ratnaprabha Sugars Ltd, which owns a mill in central Maharashtra and 1,250 tons of sugarcane crushing capacity and a 30 kilo-litres per day distillery for Rs23.75 crore and Godavari Bio-fuel Pvt. Ltd as part of its focus on the fuel ethanol market, for Rs1.8 crore. The company has 4.8 acres of land adjacent to the ethanol plant in Khopoli, Maharashtra, which it plans to use to build ethanol storage tanks, being strategically located near the Mumbai.

Last month Shree Renuka Sugars Ltd signed a Memorandum of Understanding to set up an integrated sugar and ethanol plant in Maharashtra jointly with Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited. (See: Hindustan Petroleum, Shree Renuka Sugars to jointly set up integrated sugar, ethanol plant)

Shree Renuka has posted a total income of Rs1,493.2 crore and a net profit of Rs 97.1 crore for the 9 months ended 30 June 2008.