Jubilant to acquire 40% in Coca-Cola bottling arm

The Jubilant Bhartia Group, which operates India's largest food services business, will acquire a 40% stake in the country's largest Coca-Cola bottler, in a transaction said to be valued between ₹12,000 crore and ₹12,500 crore.

- Suneera Tandon & Anubhav Mukherjee

In India, The Coca-Cola Co. bottles products such as Thums-Up, Sprite, Fanta, Limca and flagship brand Coca-Cola through subsidiary Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages Pvt. Ltd (HCCB), as well as a set of independent bottling companies. Jubilant Bhartia Group will acquire 40% in Hindustan Coca-Cola Holdings, the parent of HCCB, through Jubilant Beverages Ltd. HCCB operates 13 factories, serving 236 districts across 12 states in India's south and west.

Coca-Cola struck the deal with a "long-term" view of picking a partner which has capabilities in running reputed businesses in India, a person familiar with the development said. Goldman Sachs is financing a part of the deal, and the ultimate aim is to take the bottling business public, the person said on the condition of anonymity.

The Jubilant Bhartia Group, which started out as a drugs and chemicals company, has since branched into contract research and development services, agricultural products, performance polymers, and food services. Jubilant Food-Works Ltd is India's largest food services company, and holds exclusive rights to develop and operate Domino's Pizza in India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal.