India's largest paper manufacturer, Ballarpur Industries Ltd., has signed a $261 million deal to buy Malaysia's Sabah Forest Industries (SFI). Under the deal, Ballarpur Industries will take a 78% percent stake in the Malaysian company, leaving 20% equity for JP Morgan Chase. SFI is a fully owned subsidiary of Malaysia's well-known Lion Forest Industries Bhd. and is located in Sipitang in the eastern Malaysian state of Sabah. It operates one of Malaysia's largest integrated paper and pulp mills with a paper capacity of 144,000 metric tons a year and a pulp capacity of 120,000 metric tons a year. The acquisition will give Ballarpur access to 289,000 hectares of forest land in Sabah and help in its goal to more than doubling its paper-making capacity.