A consortium that includes India's United Phosphorus (UPL) is in talks to acquire the Bill Ackman-backed Platform Specialty Products Corp’s agricultural pesticides business for more than $4 billion including debt, reported Bloomberg on Wednesday.

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UPL will join hands with sovereign wealth fund Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) and other investors for the business known as Arysta LifeScience, the report said citing unidentified people close to the development.

The news comes after Platform, the chemical maker backed by Bill Ackman's Pershing Square Capital Management said on Monday that it had entered into negotiations for the sale of Arysta LifeScience, according to a Bloomberg report.

New York-listed Platform had earlier disclosed its plan to separate the crop chemicals business from its industrial chemicals division. Arysta has around 3000 employees accounted for about half of Platform’s $3.8 billion in sales last year, the report said.