Max India tight-lipped over BOPP unit sell-off speculation
The Delhi-based company, which specialises in insurance, health and clinical research, declined to comment when FoodProductionDaily.com contacted it following media reports that it was negotiating with a number of foreign firms to offload its film unit.
The Economic Times said yesterday Max India had decided to divest the BOPP business, which it has owned for a quarter of a century, and was in the process of a two-stage deal to sell the division for around Rs800 crore (€115m, US$152m).
Quoting two people familiar with the negotiations, the paper the Indian outfit was discussing a possible sale with at least two companies in Europe and the US, with the deal expected to close sometime this quarter.
But a Max India spokesman said: “We have no comment to make on this speculation.”
Last manufacturing plant
In recent years the company has transformed its business profile – moving away from its traditional manufacturing base to insurance, health and high-tech research.
The BOPP is its last remaining manufacturing unit, consisting of one facility in Ropar in the state of Punjab. The plant has three production lines and Max India recently boosted its output capacity from 29,000 tonnes per annum (t/a) to 52,000 t/a.
The company said demand in India for the material used in flexible packaging was strong and the business was a profitable.
