The Tata Group has made an offer for a stake in India’s largest packaged water company, Ramesh Chauhan-owned Bisleri International. The talks are said to be initiated by the Tata group FMCG arm TCPL.
The deal is expected to give a massive foothold to the Tata group in the packaged drinking water categories, and a ready go-to-market network across retail stores, chemist channels, institutional channels, including hotels, restaurants and airports, besides bulk-water delivery, since Bisleri mineral water leads across each of these channels.
Chief Executive Sunil D'Souza said that inorganic growth would be a significant part of growth strategy. “Tata Consumer has its own bottled-water business under NourishCo, but that remains a niche business. The Tatas are open to either acquiring a stake through Tata Consumer, or at group level,” the executive added.
Bisleri has more than 150 manufacturing plants and a network of over 4,000 distributors with 5,000 trucks across India. Apart from mineral water, which it leads under the Bisleri brand franchise, Bisleri International sells premium Vedica Himalayan spring water.
It also sells carbonated drinks Limonata and Spyci, and soda and fruit drinks, in addition to a smaller business of hand purifiers. It also has its own app Bisleri@Doorstep to deliver products directly to consumers, including bulk 20-litre packs as well as smaller bottles starting from 250 ml to 1 litre.
See What’s Next in Tech With the Fast Forward Newsletter
Tweets From @varindiamag
Nothing to see here - yet
When they Tweet, their Tweets will show up here.
