Tata Consumer to Acquire Bisleri for ₹6000 Crores

Tata Consumer Products is all set to acquire one of India’s largest packaged drinking water companies, Bisleri, from Ramesh Chauhan, the present owner of the brand. The estimated cost of this deal is around 6,000–7,000 crore.

Ramesh Chauhan has been in the business of selling soft drink brands such as Thumbs Up, Gold Spot, and Limca. He, at the age of 82, has finally decided to sell Bisleri International to Tata Consumer Products Ltd. (TCPL), due to his delicate health and also the lack of a worthy successor to take the company to the next level of expansion.

Acquiring Bisleri will put Tata Consumer Products in the number one spot in the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) sector. It is already selling packaged mineral water under the Himalayan brand as well as Tata Copper Plus water and Tata Gluco+.

Chauhan believes that there is no point in holding the minority stakes in the company after selling the business. In his words, “What will I do with it when I am not running the show?” 

Chauhan wants to exit the bottled water business and rather focus his intentions and invest in environmental and charitable causes such as water harvesting plastic recycling and helping the poor get medical treatment.

Despite having several buyers for the company Chauhan chose Tata Consumer to make the deal. He says, “It wasn’t just about the money. Even I don’t know what I will do with it (the money) but let me make it clear, it was not just the value I am getting for it. I was more anxious to find a home that would look after it as well as I did. This is a business I built with passion, and it is now run by equally passionate employees.”

As per the contract, all the present employees of the company will work there for the next two years. The day-to-day management team is led by a professional team headed by CEO Angelo George.

At present the company has 122 operation plants (13 of them owned), a network of 4500 distributors, and 5000 trucks across India and neighboring countries.

The turnover of the Bisleri brand is estimated at ₹2500 crore with a ₹220 crore profit for the fiscal year 2023. This will be quite a profitable business for Tata Consumer Products.