“The company wishes to update that it has now ceased negotiations with Bisleri with regard to a potential transaction and to confirm that the company has not entered into any definitive agreement or binding commitment on this matter,” TCPL said in a stock exchange filing on Friday.
Bisleri promoter’s daughter now involved in business
Bisleri promoter Ramesh Chauhan and Tata Consumer were not available for comment.
Tata Consumer had begun talks with the Chauhan family two years ago. There hadn’t been any differences over valuation, with both sides having “shook hands” on this aspect of the likely deal, said one of the persons cited above, attributing the latest development to “indecisiveness”.
Chauhan, 82, has been keen on finding a home for the brand that he’s built, with his daughter said to be uninterested in pursuing the business. ET was the first to report that the Tata Group had made an offer for Bisleri on September 12 last year. This was subsequently confirmed with Chauhan telling ET in late November last year that the Tata Group “will nurture and take care of it (Bisleri) even better”.
However, the beverages industry has been on a roll after two years and sales have peaked on the back of early summer, executives said. That may have persuaded the promoters to stay in the business, especially since Chauhan’s daughter Jayanti has in recent years been involved in developing the Vedika brand, part of the Bisleri stable.
Bisleri was originally an Italian brand that set up shop in India in Mumbai in 1965. The Chauhans acquired it in 1969.
Tata Consumer’s existing bottled water portfolio includes Himalayan, Tata Copper Plus Water and Tata Gluco.
Bisleri International has more than 150 manufacturing plants and a network of over 6,000 distributors with 7,500 trucks. In addition to its mineral water brand Bisleri, the company sells the premium spring water brand Vedica. Its portfolio also includes carbonated drinks Limonata and Spyci, soda and fruit drinks.
The company, which competes with Coca-Cola’s Kinley and PepsiCo’s Aquafina, 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.
Bisleri has a share of about 32% of the organised bottled-water market in India. It’s an intensely competitive market with unorganised brands having a large presence.
