Iift 2008 Question 136

Tata Chemicals (TCL), part of the Tata group, has entered into definitive agreements to acquire the soda ash business of General Chemical Industrial Products Inc (GCIP), a US based chemical company, for US$1,005 million. Harbinger Capital Partners is GCIP's majority shareholder. The transaction is subject to shareholder and regulatory approvals. GCIP's subsidiary, General Chemical (soda ash) Partners (GCSAP), is a significant soda ash producer in the US with a capacity of 2.5 million tpa of natural soda ash. GCSAP has mining and manufacturing facilities located at Green River Basin in Wyoming, USA, which provides it access to the world's largest and most economically recoverable trona ore deposits that is then converted into soda ash.