Tata Group Proposed To Buy Stake In Bisleri International

Tata Group proposed to purchase a stake in India’s largest packaged water company, Bisleri International. A news agency reported that three executives were aware of this development. One of the executives stated that "The Tata group has made the offer to Bisleri for a stake acquisition which it wants to scale up eventually,"

The executive stated that "This would give the Tatas a massive foothold in packaged drinking water across the entry-level, mid-segment, and premium packaged 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,"

According to the report, the stake dilution was also attributable to succession planning by Bisleri owner Ramesh Chauhan.

According to Bisleri's official website, Bisleri boasts more than 150 manufacturing facilities and over 4,000 distributors. They also have 5,000 trucks in India.

Chief executive Sunil D'Souza stated that Tata Group's Tata Consumer business, which sells Tetley tea and Eight O'Clock coffee as well as operating Starbucks cafés, is currently exploring strategic acquisitions. He had stated that organic growth was a "significant component" of a growth strategy. Tata Consumer owns a bottled water business under NourishCo. However, this remains a niche company.

The executive stated that Tatas were open to acquiring a stake either through Tata Consumer or at the group level.