Indian starch business to liquidate

Indian company B M Thapar group is to liquidate its starch business Bharat Starch, Indian paper the Economic Times reports. This follows the company's selling off of its starch and citric acid divisions to English India Clays and Bilt Chemicals, respectively. According to sources, once the selloff was carried out there was insufficient business left to carry out for Bharat Starch, as a result liquidation is occurring. The loss-making Bharat Starch had split its two divisions, citric acid and starch, into two companies and sold them as part of financial restructuring to relieve the companies outstanding liabilities. For Bilt Chemicals, the takeover of the citric acid plant in Gujarat would be a perfect fit since the company was planning to go in for expansions in the segment. Sources say the two buyers would actually take over the liabilities of Bharat Starch. As a part of the deal, a major part of the debt burden of the company would be transferred to the new owners and the rest of them would be restructured by the FIs. The Thapar family are the largest shareholder in the company with a 45 per cent stake, followed by UK-based Tate & Lyle, which has a 40 per cent stake. The rest is divided between financial institutions and the public. Source: Economic Times​