Tata Group offers to buy stake in Bisleri International: Report

The Tata Group has reportedly offered to acquire a stake in Bisleri International in a bid to expand its footprints in the packaged drinking water sector.

According to Economic Times, which spoke to three executives, Tata Group plans to eventually scale up its stakes after the initial acquisition in Bisleri.

“The Tata Group has made the offer to Bisleri for a stake acquisition which it wants to scale up eventually, and is very keen on the business,” the sources told ET.

“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.”

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Tata Group’s Tata Consumer already owns a bottled water business under the NourishCo brand, and the proposed acquisition in Bisleri would give it a further fillip.

Tata Consumer’s chief executive Sunil D’Souza had recently said that the company is looking for strategic acquisitions.

The company sells Tetley tea, Soulfull cereals, Eight O’Clock coffee, salt and pulses and runs the Starbucks cafes.

Bisleri, which besides its mineral water also sells the premium Vedica Himalayan spring water, has around 150 manufacturing plants across the country. The company has a network of 4,000 distributors and runs 5,000 trucks across the country to get its product delivered.

Neither Tata Consumer nor Bisleri International have confirmed the news.