New Delhi, Feb. 23 -- UPL's restructuring may have been pitched as value unlocking, but the market response was sceptical. When trading opened on Monday, the stock fell as much as 12%, as brokerages flagged that the debt overhang remains largely unresolved.

The reorganisation, announced on Friday after market hours, is structurally straightforward but strategically significant. The listed parent will transfer its Indian crop protection business and its global crop protection arm into a new India-listed subsidiary, UPL Global Sustainable Agrisolutions Ltd (UPL GSAL), through a share swap.

Existing shareholders of UPL will receive proportionate shares in the new entity, which will house the core crop protection operations. The parent will...