Tea plantation company Mcleod Russel India Ltd on Monday said it would sell three of its tea estates, adding to a slew of properties it has been offloading in the past months.
The Kolkata-based company will sell the specified assets of Addabarie Tea Estate, Mahakali Tea Estate and Dirai Tea Estate to Luxmi Tea Company Pvt. Ltd for Rs 150.45 crore ($21.6 million), Mcleod said in a stock market disclosure.
Kolkata-based Luxmi Tea Company is engaged in the growing, manufacturing and sale of tea.
Mcleod Russel added that it had earlier entered into a non-binding agreement to sell the assets of the three estates to Saffron Enclave Pvt Ltd. But this could not happen because the deadline to take the agreement forward expired last month.
Mcleod Russel's Addabarie tea estate contributed Rs 25 crore, or 1.62%, to its turnover while the Mahakali and Dirai tea estates accounted for Rs 18 crore and Rs 34 crore, respectively, in the fiscal ended 31 March 2018.
Mcleod Russel, which has a presence in India, Uganda, Vietnam and Rwanda, has been selling its tea estates for the past year in order to trim its debt.
Just last week, the company said it will sell its remaining 45% stake in Pfunda Tea Company Ltd to Scotland-registered Rwanda Tea Investments Ltd for Rs 54.65 crore ($7.88 million).
In September 2018, it decided to sell two estates and related assets, adding to the dozen properties it agreed to divest in June that involved Luxmi Tea Company as one of the buyers.
Mcleod Russel's debt as on September 2018 stood at around Rs 1,500 crore, according to media reports.