The Aditya Birla Group has completed acquisition of Atlanta-based Columbian Chemicals Company, following all regulatory approvals obtained in seven different jurisdictions. The Group had become the world's leading carbon black producer with the acquisition struck at $875 million (Rs 3,937 crore) in January.

The newly constituted Columbian Chemicals' board meeting was chaired by Mr Kumar Mangalam Birla, Chairman, Aditya Birla Group. Other Directors include Mrs Rajashree Birla, Mr Rajiv Dube, Dr Santrupt Misra, Mr D.D. Rathi and Mr Kevin Boyle, CEO, Columbian Chemicals.

Mr Kumar Mangalam Birla said the company's strength in scale economies, managing large capacity plants and multiple emerging markets will be leveraged with Columbian Chemicals' R&D capability, multiple speciality products, customer connect in North America and South America.

“The deal has doubled our capacity to two million tonnes in one stroke and enhanced our geographic reach. Our focus is on value creation and optimising costs through innovation in areas such as logistics, sourcing and technology. We expect synergies in excess $50 million,” said Dr Misra.

A $30-billion corporation, the Aditya Birla Group is in the League of Fortune 500. It has over 131,000 employees. The Group operates in 33 countries. Over 60 per cent of its revenues of $30 billion come from its overseas operations.

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