A leading specialty chemicals company, Crystal Crop Protection Ltd has reportedly acquired four brands from the Philadelphia based American chemicals firm FMC Corporation. If reports are to be believed, the deal stands as the company’s third inorganic growth strategy this year. For the record, Crystal Crop Protection Ltd is backed by the renowned PE firm, Everstone Capital. The company, as per the deal, would acquire famous FMC brands including Splendour, Furadan, Affinity Force, and Metcil, which is expected to considerably strengthen its herbicide and insecticide portfolio. As per sources familiar with the knowledge of the matter, the latest collaboration would add approximately 15 percent to Crystal Crop Protection’s branded retail business. Crystal Crop’s Managing Director, Ankur Aggarwal, has been quoted stating that the deal is an inorganic growth opportunity amidst the backdrop when the Indian market is witnessing a slew of consolidation and portfolio rationalization initiatives undertaken by the chemical companies. The acquisition of these four brands is also aligned with a similar opportunity, he added. For the uninitiated, Crystal Crop is endowed with a product portfolio that caters to every stage in the crop lifecycle ranging from sowing of seeds to harvesting crop yields. The firm is also acclaimed for providing cutting-edge crop protection solutions to farmers. The company cited these acquisition strategies as highly lucrative in terms of ROI (return on investments) and further hinted at exploring these inorganic strategic approaches in the near term. For the record, the company plans to use a few of its proceeds from its INR 1,000 crore filed IPO to explore inorganic growth opportunities. If reports are to be relied on, the company made two similar investments earlier this year as a part of its inorganic growth strategy by purchasing a chemical plant from Cytec India Specialty Chemicals & Materials and acquiring Syngenta’s pearl millet, sorghum, and fodder seeds business.