Tata Tea to acquire Czech tea co

Tata Tea's UK arm will acquire Czech-based tea company Jemca, from a food processing company, Alima Znackova Potravina.

Tata Tea Ltd on Tuesday said its UK subsidiary, Tata Tea (GB) Ltd will acquire Czech-based tea company Jemca, from a food processing company, Alima Znackova Potravina.

HT Image

The acquisition has been funded by Tetley Group, the company informed the Bombay Stock Exchange.

Jemca has a 26.6 per cent volume share of the Czech tea market and a turnover of about $12.5 million. It will continue to pack teas at its production facility at Jemnice in Czech Republic and continue to trade under the 'Jemca' brand name, it added.

"This acquisition is a further development of our plans to grow the Tata Groups tea business around the world. It gives us a market leading position in an area where tea consumption is high and where we have been previously unrepresented.

"The experience and skills of JEMCA and Tetley complement each other well and will combine to create a significant presence in Eastern Europe," Executive Vice Chairman and CEO of Tetley group and director of the company Ken Pringle said.

The company's shares were trading at Rs 864, up 3.26 per cent at the BSE.