United Phosphorus Ltd — Acquisition as a Business Process

Abstract

United Phosphorus Ltd (UPL) is a global agribusiness company headquartered in India. It operates in both agrochemical and seeds markets with a market presence of US $1.5 billion in a global market of US $70 billion. In the agrochemical market it primarily manufactures generics which it sells to formulators. However, in a string of brand and corporate acquisitions commencing 1996, UPL laid the foundations for a growing presence in end-user markets across the world. UPL saw its capability in process engineering as the basis for value addition to the acquisitions it made and wanted to institutionalize acquisition as a formal business process. The case describes the company’s approach to target selection, acquisition and integration.