Aditya Birla group is understood to have started the process to bid for acquiring Australian coal company New Hope valued at an estimated USD 5.2 billion.

Industry sources said that talks between Aditya Birla group, which owns Hindalco Industries and UltraTech Cement and New Hope have moved beyond initial stages adding that the USD 35 billion conglomerate is likely to appoint advisors in the next few days for the deal.

Besides this, the Birla group is also mulling the option of raising funds on its own or form a joint venture for the acquisition.

Mr Tuhin Mukherjee MD of Aditya Birla Natural Resources said that “We do not comment on market speculations.”

(Sourced from BL)