| Tata Chemicals' hopes of buying a firm in Egypt for $450 million receded today with an Egyptian company making a counter offer, which was around $60 million higher. |
| Egypt Kuwait Holding (EK Holding) has offered $350 per share for buying Egyptian Fertilizers Company (EFC), a firm partially owned by the government. Tata Chemicals had offered to pay $305 per share. |
| Tata Chemicals, however, is keeping its options open on revising its offer price. Managing Director Prasad R Menon today said the company had a week to make a fresh bid and declined to comment further. |
| He said the company would make use of its foreign currency convertible bond issue, internal accruals and bridge loans to fund the acquisition if it made a fresh bid. |
| Menon also said the acquisition would help the company leverage markets and gain global competitiveness. Tata Chemicals is looking at markets like Egypt and Bangladesh, where gas is available and there is huge local demand. |
| Tata Chemicals had made an open offer at $305 per share to buy 1.475 million EFC shares, representing a 100 per cent stake in the company. |
| The face value of the share is $100 each. At this rate, the total cost of acquisition worked out to $450 million (over Rs 1,950 crore at an exchange rate of Rs 43.40 per dollar). |
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