Japanese investor buys Nimal’s Mercantile Produce Brokers for Rs. 1 b

NP Capital Ltd, controlled by Nimal Perera, yesterday sold its entire stake of 97% of Mercantile Produce Brokers Ltd. to Japanese-owned investment company Tad Lanka Holdings Ltd. for Rs. 1 billion. 

Nimal had concluded the deal with Tad Lanka Chairman Toshiaki Tanaka, who will join the Board of Mercantile Produce Brokers Ltd., one of the pioneer companies in the tea broking industry.

Nimal’s NP Capital in December 2014 bought Mercantile Produce Brokers for Rs. 250 million and the exit has brought windfall profits for Nimal apart from attracting additional foreign investment from the Japanese company.

The latest deal comes hot on the heels of Nimal, in a comeback move, investing Rs. 250 million for a 50% stake in a start-up specialising in disruptive technologies. 

At the time of the acquisition, Mercantile Produce Brokers was reportedly running at a loss.

 The company then upped its yearly net profits, making it one of the best performers in the market, entitling Perera to a dividend of Rs. 100 million for the last two years of his involvement in the company. 

Mercantile has achieved Rs. 152,000,000 net profit after tax cumulatively as at 30 November 2017 and the full-year FY18 profit forecast is around Rs. 180 million. 

Nimal’s usual restructuring model applied on all his acquisitions was applied to Mercantile to bring the company to its current heights, making it one of the most profitable tea broking companies in the country. 

With Nimal’s exit, the Board of Directors of Mercantile Produce Brokers comprises Toshiaki Tanaka, Ansar Atheeq and Dhanuka Samarasinghe from Tad Lanka as directors and Samantha Dodanwela as the Managing Director. 

TAD Lanka was founded in May 2016 for the main purpose of streamlining and safeguarding all types of foreign investments and investors channelled to Sri Lanka.

In February this year it announced a $ 15 million project for the establishment of a solar power plant in Sri Lanka with investments from a consortium of Japanese companies. It was reported that the initial commitment was to set up a 10 MW solar power plant with an investment of $ 10 million and an added pledge to invest $ 150 million in a 100 MW solar power plant in the future.