Aiming to be the number one player in the soda ash industry, Tata Chemicals Ltd said it has acquired 63.5 per cent stake in UK-based Brunner Mond Group Ltd (BMG), for nearly Rs 508 crore (Rs 5.08 billion).

With the acquisition of Brunner Mond, manufacturer of soda ash and sodium bicarbonate, TCL will now be one of the leading producers of soda ash in the world.

"The combined entity of Brunner Mond and Tata Chemicals will now propel us further to greater strengths in technology, customer relationships and cost leadership," TCL managing director Prasad Menon told reporters in Mumbai on Monday.

"It would consolidate our position as a leading manufacturer of soda ash in the world," he added.

Menon said the acquisition would help the company achieve a total soda ash production capacity of three million tonnes per annum, besides adding a number of people.

"The acquisition of the company, which has manufacturing facilities in the UK, the Netherlands and Kenya, will take the total production capacity for the combined entity close to three million tonnes per annum," he said.

The deal would add over 1,000 employees across Asia and Africa, Menon added.

With regard to funding of the proceeds, Menon said that it will be done totally through internal accruals. "The investment in BM is through TCL's 100 per cent subsidiaries in Mauritius and the United Kingdom," he said, adding that the company has utilised its available cash resources including the Foreign Currency Convertible Bonds issued recently.