The Hindu Business Line : HLL acquires Amalgam's cooked shrimp business

IN a yet another measure to move down the value added chain, Hindustan Lever Ltd (HLL) on Tuesday announced that it has acquired the cooked shrimp and pasteurised crabmeat business of Kerala-based Amalgam group of companies on a going concern basis.

The FMCG major did not reveal the amount of money invested for this acquisition.

The business was already on a wet lease basis with HLL since July 2000 and had contributed about Rs 200 crore to the company's export turnover last fiscal, the company said in a news release. The acquisition is effective from January 1, 2003.

This acquisition involves taking over four processing units of Amalgam at Aroor and Kuthiathode in Kerala, Pamarru in Andhra Pradesh and Rabale in Maharashtra with 150 employees. These factories are US FDA and EU approved, HLL said.

"The business includes established brand names such as Ocean Diamond, Ocean Excellence and Shogun,'' the company said.

The company has been in the process of phasing out its traded marine exports over the past two years and is focussing on moving up the value chain to ready-to-eat finished products.

"Cooked shrimps and pasteurised crabmeat, the two key products of the four acquired units, are logical extensions to HLL's portfolio,'' the release said. This business is complimentary to HLL's existing facilities for Fish Protein Isolates and Crabsticks.

"The acquisition also gives HLL presence in all major catchment areas in the east and west coast of India. This provides operational and strategic synergy in raw material procurement and customer management, servicing major markets in the US, the UK, Europe, Japan and South East Asia,'' the release said.

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